Higher quality colonoscopies reduce colorectal cancer incidence, mortality

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

According to a new study published in JAMA, researchers have found that higher adenoma detection rates from colonoscopy screenings may be associated with a lower lifetime colorectal cancer incidence and mortality without increased overall costs.

For the study, researchers sought to estimate the lifetime benefits, complications, and costs of an initial screening program at different levels of adenoma detection by analyzing data from the Kaiser Permanente health care system.

Results showed that among unscreened patients, the lifetime colorectal cancer risk was 34.2% per 1,000 and the lifetime colorectal cancer mortality risk was 13.4% per 1,000. Among those with the highest rates of adenoma detection, the lifetime colorectal cancer risk was 12.5% per 1,000.

In addition, researchers found that despite a higher number of colonoscopies and potential complications, there was no increase in overall costs due to the avoidance of cancer treatment costs.