A study by Atkin and coauthors has demonstrated reduced mortality by screening average-risk patients with a single use of flexible sigmoidoscopy for colorectal cancer. This large UK trial of 170,432 subjects aged 55–64 years (median 60.2 years) randomized patients 2:1 to control or single flexible sigmoidoscopy. Reduction in colorectal cancer incidence was 23% and cancer mortality was reduced by 31% in the intention-to-treat population. In this News & Views article we discuss the role of flexible sigmoidoscopy in population-based screening for colorectal cancer.
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The authors acknowledge National Health Service funding to the National Institute for Health Research biomedical research center.
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Hawkes, E., Cunningham, D. Flexible sigmoidoscopy—valuable in colorectal cancer. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 7, 488–490 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2010.102
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2010.102
