PROVIDENCE – University Gastroenterology has launched a public awareness campaign about the need for regular colorectal cancer screenings for people age 50 and over.
Created in response to a spike in cases where a relatively new noninvasive screening was inappropriately prescribed, the campaign seeks to reinforce the message that colonoscopy is the gold standard for colorectal cancer screening.
Physicians at University Gastroenterology say Cologuard should only be used for average-risk patients and is not intended to replace diagnostic colonoscopy or surveillance colonoscopy in high-risk patients.
They cite a 2014 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that involved 10,000 people and found that Cologuard missed colorectal cancer in one in 13 patients, who were later diagnosed using a colonoscopy.
The study also reported that Cologuard missed more than 30% of polyps that would become cancerous and nearly 60% of larger polyps that had the potential to become cancerous.
Physicians at the practice also point to a recommendation by the U.S. Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer, which advises doctors to offer Cologuard after first giving patients the option of undergoing a colonoscopy or fecal test.
