Screening and Testing to Detect Colon and Rectal Cancer
Screening methods to find colon or rectal changes that may lead to cancer include laboratory tests such as fecal occult blood tests (FOBT) and imaging tests such as sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy. Screening by the latter two tests can find precancerous polyps which can be removed during the test and may find cancer early when it is most treatable.
On this page:
Colon and Rectal Cancer Screening Methods
- Colorectal Cancer Screening (PDQ®)
[ patient ] [ health professional ]
Expert-reviewed information summary about tests used to detect or screen for colorectal cancer. - Colorectal Cancer Screening
This fact sheet discusses the advantages and disadvantages of several colorectal cancer screening tests. - Experts Recommend Steps to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening in Primary Care
A National Institutes of Health state-of-the-science panel was convened February 2-4, 2010 to identify ways to increase the use and quality of colorectal cancer screening in the United States.
Clinical Trials to Screen for Colon and Rectal Cancer
Find Clinical Trials to Screen for Colon and Rectal Cancer
Check for colorectal cancer screening trials from NCI’s list of cancer clinical trials now accepting patients. The list of clinical trials can be refined by location and other features.
Research About Colon and Rectal Cancer Screening
- Sigmoidoscopy Markedly Reduces Colorectal Cancer Incidence and Mortality
A single sigmoidoscopy procedure reduced colorectal cancer incidence and mortality in a large randomized trial published online April 27, 2010, in The Lancet. - Cancer Trends Progress Report: Colorectal Cancer Screening
This section of the Cancer Trends Progress Report focuses on the use of the fecal occult blood test (FOBT) and colorectal endoscopy (sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy). - Large, Multi-Center Trial Demonstrates Comparable Accuracy for Virtual Colonoscopy and Standard Colonoscopy
Computerized tomographic colonography, also known as virtual colonoscopy, is comparable to standard colonoscopy, which uses a long, flexible tube with a camera to view the lining of the colon, in its ability to accurately detect cancer and precancerous polyps and could serve as an initial screening exam for colorectal cancer, according to the results of the American College of Radiology Imaging Network National CT Colonography Trial. - Colonoscopy Reduces Death from Cancer in the Left Colon, but Not the Right
In a large case-control study, patients who had undergone colonoscopy at least once were less likely to die of colorectal cancer arising in the left side of the colon (the part of the colon closest to the rectum) than patients who had never had a colonoscopy, according to the Dec. 15, 2008, Annals of Internal Medicine. - Flat and Depressed Colorectal Growths May Change Screening
A study from the Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System in Palo Alto, CA, published in the March 5, 2008 Journal of the American Medical Association adds to a growing body of evidence that nonpolypoid colorectal neoplasms (NP-CRNs) - abnormalities that can appear either flat or depressed relative to the surrounding membrane - can also contain precancerous or cancerous cells. - Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial
A large-scale clinical trial to determine whether certain cancer screening tests reduce deaths from prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancer. In addition, there are numerous epidemiologic and ancillary studies going on that will answer other crucial questions about these cancers and these screening tests.
