Colon Cancer Survivors Not Getting The Follow-Up Screening They Need

Imagine that you get a virtual colonoscopy and it tells you the worst - you have colon cancer. You then battle the colon cancer and succeed in eliminating it. Would you continue to get colon cancer screening to make sure that there wasn't a recurrence of the disease? The answer should be yes. In fact, there is a very specific set of screening guidelines that are in place for those people who have survived colon cancer because of the unique risks that they face in regards to recurrence of colon cancer. The problem is that studies have recently indicated that more than half of these types of patients are getting the proper kind of screening. Some are getting no follow-up screening at all whereas others are getting improper screening such as CT scans or PET scans which aren't recommended for this group. It is unclear what is causing the lack of follow-up screening for patients who have survived colon cancer. This indicates that additional studies regarding this issue are necessary for the medical community to consider undertaking. Question of the Day: Why aren't colon cancer survivors getting appropriate follow-up screening?