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Podcast: Colorectal cancer in older adults

KP Research Radio takes a look at new study findings that can help older adults and their physicians determine when to stop colorectal cancer surveillance

Colorectal cancer screening can find a cancer early, when it is easiest to treat. Screening can also prevent cancer by finding polyps — growths that develop on the lining of the colon or rectum. By removing these growths, doctors can prevent cancer from occurring.

People who have had a polyp removed are considered to have a slightly higher risk of getting colorectal cancer. Their doctors will recommend cancer surveillance: routine colonoscopies to look for new growths.

Jeffrey K. Lee, MD, MPH, and Douglas A. Corley, MD, PhD, recently published a study in JAMA Network Open that helps answer a longstanding question: At what age do people who have had a colorectal polyp removed no longer need surveillance colonoscopies?

Lee is a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research and a gastroenterologist with The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG). Corley is TPMG’s chief research officer, a DOR research scientist, and a TPMG gastroenterologist. We spoke with them about the difference between cancer screening and cancer surveillance and how their study can help older patients and their physicians decide when colorectal cancer surveillance tests may no longer be needed.

 

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