U.S. Officials Strongly Recommend Screening for Everyone Over 50

Federal health officials, updating their 1996 recommendations, have strongly reaffirmed that everyone older than 50 should be be screened for colorectal cancer, saying new evidence proves the testing can prevent deaths.

The United States Preventive Services Task Force, a medical advisory panel that helps set government policy, said in a statement published in the Annals of Internal Medicine that it had found "fair to good evidence that several screening methods are effective in reducing mortality from colorectal cancer."

But the panel said current information is insufficient to recommend one method over another; so each patient must decide in consultation with his doctor which test is most appropriate.

The tests include colonoscopy, in which the entire large intestine is viewed using a fiber-optic tube inserted in the anus, and sigmoidoscopy, in which only the lower portion of the intestine is examined.

A third approach used to screen for colorectal cancer involves looking for blood in stool samples.

"The consistent finding that any form of screening is superior to no screening supports the general conclusion that any of the commonly considered strategies are reasonable alternatives," the panel said.

The Task Force did not say at what age the tests might no longer make sense.

Other sources: Annals of Internal Medicine