With colon cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer death in the United States, an increasing number of people, having reached age 50, are girding themselves for their first colonoscopy.
Anyone who's had one can tell you that the worst part is the preparation when you must drink what seems like gallons of a lime-flavored drink that operates as a harsh laxative. One in four people can't take it and don't drink it all.
Now we learn that flat or depressed lesions can't be seen if there is any waste left in the intestine. Yet, Easily Overlooked Lesions Tied to Colon Cancer.
The study also raises doubts about whether “virtual colonoscopy,” performed by a CT scanner, will ever be able to take the place of the colonoscope inserted into the rectum, as many patients had hoped. The problem is that CT scans use X-rays to reveal shapes, and find polyps because they stick out. Flat lesions are unlikely to show up in such scans.