Men face earlier risk of colon cancer
Middle-aged men are twice as likely as women to end up with a cancer diagnosis after a colono-scopy, according to an Austrian study that challenges current screening guidelines. Currently, people at average risk of colon cancer start screening for the disease at age 50, regardless of gender. But the study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, shows a discrepancy of nearly 10 years between men and women in the development of colon and rectal tumors. The study found that colono-scopies would find one in 80 men aged 55 had cancer. This figure is also true for 65-year-old women. The same logic held for the pre-cancerous growths called advanced adenomas, which doctors also look for during colonoscopies. Lead researcher Monika Ferlitsch, of the Medical University of Vienna, said: "The prevalence and number needed to screen for advanced ade-nomas were comparable for men aged 45-49 and women aged 55-59." About one in 19 men develops colon cancer at some point and slightly fewer women do. The disease usually strikes older adults and is the third-leading cause of cancer deaths in the US. Ferlitsch and her team looked at data from more than 44,000 Austrians who had colonoscopies between 2007 and 2010.
Comments