Tools Developed To Reduce False Positives in Colon Cancer Screening

People may know that they need to get regular screening for colon cancer. And they may opt not to get that screening anyway because they fear that the process of screening is painful and / or embarassing. One of the specific parts of the screening that people report feeling particularly uncomfortable about is the laxative bowel prep.

When the virtual colonoscopy started to replace the mort traditional colonoscopy, this became less of a problem. That is because it is possible to do the virtual colonoscopy without having to do the bowel prep. This has made the process easier for patients and made people more likely to get screening.

However, the results of the virtual colonoscopy without the bowel prep are not as accurate as doing either the virtual or the traditional colonoscopy with the bowel prep. There are more likely to be false positives with the virtual colonoscopy when the bowel prep is not done.

Researchers have recognized that this is a problem. They want to reduce the number of false positives when using a virtual colonoscopy without the bowel prep. This will hopefully keep patients coming in for screening and improve the results of their testing. This research has resulted in a couple of tools that appear to be successful. Learn more here.

Question of the Day: What can we do to reduce the discomfort associated with colon cancer screening?

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