One Size May Not Fit All: Knowing Risk Can Determine What Kind of Colon Cancer Screening is Best

While colonoscopy has become widely used for colorectal cancer screening, nearly two-thirds of screening colonoscopies show no cancer or pre-cancerous polyps. In an editorial in the October issue of the journal Gastroenterology, Thomas F. Imperiale, M.D., Professor of Medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine and a Regenstrief Institute, Inc. Research Scientist, says that studies that can help determine who is at risk for colorectal cancer as well as who is not at risk and how to stratify risk for each group can help determine which screening test is best for each individual and will better serve both patients and the healthcare system.