Leaders of the American Cancer Society, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, conclude a large, randomized new study that reportedly calls into question the effectiveness of preventive colonoscopies. I am strongly against it.
On Monday, October 10, 2022, Karen E. Knudsen, CEO of the American Cancer Society, said in a telephone interview with Fox News Digital, “There is nothing wrong with the study itself.
“It’s the interpretation of the study that gives us great concern,” she said, calling the study “grossly misunderstood.”
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Colorectal cancer will be the fourth leading cause of cancer in the United States in 2022 and the second leading cause of cancer deaths, according to the National Cancer Institute.
The study in question was conducted by the NordICC (Nordic Initiative on Colon Cancer) and was published Sunday in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
A large study included more than 84,000 men and women aged 55-64 in Poland, Norway and Sweden who had never had a colonoscopy, according to the study abstract.
Participants were randomly invited to undergo a colonoscopy between June 2009 and June 2014.
A second group was not screened at all.
At a “median follow-up” of 10 years, the group invited to have a colonoscopy had an 18% lower risk of colorectal cancer than the unscreened group, according to the study abstract. rice field.
The group invited to undergo a colonoscopy also had a slightly reduced risk of dying from colorectal cancer, but the difference was not “statistically significant,” the abstract said.
“It’s the interpretation of the study that gives us serious concern,” said Knudsen, who said the new study was “grossly misunderstood.”
When results were limited to people who actually had a colonoscopy (approximately 12,000 out of more than 28,000 invited to do so), the procedure reduced the risk of colorectal cancer by 31%. , the risk of dying from that cancer decreased. A 50% increase, as reported by CNN.
In summary, the data show that colonoscopy reduces the likelihood of colorectal cancer from 18% low to 31% high and the risk of death from 0% to up to 50% indicates a possibility.
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The study’s lead investigator, Dr. Michael Bretthauer, who heads the clinical efficacy group at the University of Oslo in Norway, said that as a gastroenterologist, he found the findings “disappointing,” CNN reported.
But as a researcher, he said, “you have to follow science.”
“So I think we have to embrace it,” he said, according to the outlet.
“And we may have oversold the message [on getting colonoscopies] For the past decade or so, we have to rewind it a bit.”
Knudsen strongly disagrees and strongly recommends a closer look at this study.
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A “obvious problem” with the conclusions drawn from this study’s data is “the fact that only 42% of the participants invited to undergo a colonoscopy experienced it,” she said. rice field.
Nevertheless, according to the published abstract, the conclusions of this study are:
“The most important thing about this study is that nearly 60% of those invited did not actually have a colonoscopy.”
“This study was not designed to assess the effectiveness of colonoscopies,” Knudsen emphasized.
“I think that’s probably the part that confuses people, and we’re hearing from people who are certainly confused,” she added.
“The most important thing about this study is that nearly 60% of the people who were invited didn’t actually have a colonoscopy,” she said.
“Looking at the data, if everyone who was asked to have a colonoscopy did so, it would be one thing,” she said. “But that’s not what happened.”
Another problem Knudsen has with the study’s conclusions is that it draws data from “one-off colonoscopies.”
Calling this latest research misconception “the wildfire we’re so worried about,” Knudsen urged everyone to “go out there and get a colonoscopy.”
“If this kind of study were to be done, I would expect at least 10 years of follow-up to look at the effectiveness of colonoscopies,” she said.
She stressed that the time frame between doctors finding a polyp and “someone actually dying from colon cancer” would be “at least 10 years.”
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According to Knudsen, another efficacy variable not considered in the study is the skills and background of the individuals performing the screening.
The effectiveness of a colonoscopy “depends heavily on the skill of the person performing the procedure,” she explained.
Another point of concern, she said, is the age group included in the study โ “from age 55,” she noted.
U.S. guidelines recommend starting screening at age 45, she said.
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Noting that this latest research misconception is potentially “the wildfire that we’re so concerned about,” Knudsen urges everyone to “go out there and get a colonoscopy.” did.
“This data does not say that colonoscopies are ineffective,” she said.
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Rather, “when you look at the data, people who actually had a colonoscopy benefited from the screen,” she said.