• J Natl Cancer Inst. 2003 Apr 16;95(8):571-3.

 
Long-term efficacy of sigmoidoscopy in the reduction of colorectal cancer incidence.

Newcomb PA, Storer BE, Morimoto LM, Templeton A, Potter JD.

Cancer Prevention Research Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle 98109-1024, USA. pnewcomb@fhcrc.org

Screening sigmoidoscopy is associated with a reduction in both the incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer. Although current guidelines recommend sigmoidoscopy screening every 5 years, the duration of risk reduction is not known. We conducted a population-based case-control study to examine the association between sigmoidoscopy screening and colorectal cancer incidence. We collected information on screening history and risk factors from case patients with distal (n = 1026) and proximal (n = 642) colorectal cancer and from 1294 control subjects from October 1998 through February 2002. Screening sigmoidoscopy was associated with a statistically significant reduction in the incidence of distal colorectal cancer (odds ratio [OR] = 0.24, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.17 to 0.33). These reductions were sustained for up to 16 years with little attenuation. We also observed strong inverse associations between cancer incidence and sigmoidoscopy in analyses that included subjects with symptom-related tests. Current recommendations regarding the frequency of sigmoidoscopy screening may be unnecessarily aggressive.

PMID: 12697855 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]