Study: Colonoscopy reduces cancer, mortality rates

Editor's Note

A meta-analysis of 11 studies showed a significant association between patients who had a colonoscopy with nonmalignant findings and reductions in colorectal cancer and mortality rates.

Cancer rate reductions were greater for screening colonoscopy than for diagnostic colonoscopy, and results were similar for men and women.

One explanation for the lower cancer rates is the removal of all detected polyps during screening colonoscopy; another is that patients with negative colonoscopy findings are inherently associated with lower risks of developing cancer.

The findings provide additional evidence for the effectiveness of colonoscopy in the general population, the authors say.

The American Journal of Gastroenterology is published by Nature Publishing Group (NPG) on behalf of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG). Ranked the #1 clinical journal covering gastroenterology and hepatology*, The American Journal of Gastroenterology (AJG) provides practical and professional support for clinicians dealing with the gastroenterological disorders seen most often in patients.