Researchers Work on Index to Assess Need for Colonoscopy

Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine are developing a method to assess a patient's risk for colorectal cancer and need for a colonoscopy.

The risk index the researchers are developing may help doctors identify low-risk patients who do not require colonoscopy after sigmoidoscopy.

Reporting in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, the researchers said they reviewed the colonoscopy results of almost 2,000 people over age 50 and identified factors associated with an increased probability of advanced, pre-malignant growths in the upper colon.

The factors included older age; being male; and having certain types and sizes of polyps in the lower colon, which can be seen using sigmoidoscopy.

"The risk index we have developed may identify low-risk people whose probability of advanced precancerous growths in the upper colon is about one in 250," Dr. Thomas F. Imperiale said in a prepared statement.

"This index is a first step toward identifying people who do not require colonoscopy sigmoidoscopy; however, colonoscopy could be considered later in life, as their risk changes," he added.

Other sources: Annals of Internal Medicine