A five-minute test to screen for colorectal cancer reduces by 43% the mortality rate among people aged 55-64 years.
This is according to a British study that began in 1994. 170,000 people participated in the study over eleven years. 113,200 people took no test while 57,237 had a sigmoidoscopy or flexi-scope test. A thin, flexible tube is inserted into the anus to view the rectum and terminal colon so doctors can identify and remove polyps.
Among the group who had no test, 2,564 cases of colorectal cancer were diagnosed, whereas only 706 cases were diagnosed in the second group. Researchers found the flexi-scope test reduced the chances of getting colon cancer by 33%. It also cut the chances of dying by 43%.
Dr. Wendy Atkin is a professor of surgery and cancer at Imperial College London. She led the research and comments, "It’s not for me to tell governments what to d. But this is a very big effect, with a very quick and a very cheap test."