Photo: Getty Images
A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that regular colonoscopies do not reduce the risk of death from colorectal cancer.
A team of researchers from the Nordic-European Initiative on Colorectal Cancer followed 85,000 volunteers between the ages of 55 and 64 who were randomly assigned into two groups. One group was invited to undergo routine colonoscopies, while the other group underwent standard care without the invasive screening procedure.
While the researchers found that those who underwent colonoscopies had an 18% reduced risk of getting cancer over a 10-year period, they found no evidence that the screening had an effect on reducing the risk of death from colorectal cancer.
Health experts say that people should start getting colonoscopies at the age of 45. If the test finds no evidence of cancer, they recommend getting rescreened every ten years.
If caught early, localized colon cancer has a five-year survival rate of 91%, according to the American Cancer Society.
Despite the surprising results, doctors are advising people to still undergo the procedure.
“I don’t think anyone should be canceling their colonoscopy,” Dr. Jason Dominitz, the national director of gastroenterology for the Veterans Health Administration, told CNN.