A single-center study published in JAMA supported recent recommendations that the age of colorectal cancer screening age be lowered to 45, Medpage Today reported June 3.
The study, conducted by researchers Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Pleasanton, investigated colorectal neoplasia yields at screening colonoscopies among adults ages 45-49 and 50-54 within the health system.
Here are six takeaways from the study:
1. Screening colonoscopy outcomes were slightly less common in people ages 45-49 years old compared with those ages 50-54 years old.
2. However, only the risk for adenoma was significantly lower in the younger group, at 35.4% in the younger group versus 40.8% in the older one.
3. None of the other colonoscopy findings, including advanced adenoma, advanced serrated lesion, sessile serrated lesion or CRC, showed significant differences between the two groups.
4. There were also no significant differences in neoplasia prevalence between the age groups or between sexes.
5. The lack of significant difference in detection rates between ages suggests that there is no need to reduce adenoma or sessile serrated lesion detection rate benchmarks because of the introduction of younger patients into the screening pool, Jeffrey Lee, MD, one of the researchers, told Medpage.
6. Veroushka Ballester, MD, a spokesperson for the American Gastroenterological Association, told Medpage that the findings support the 2021 change in guidance that lowered the recommended CRC screening age to 45.
“Although screening colonoscopy outcomes were generally slightly less frequent among the younger group compared with the older group, by showing comparable detection rates of advanced lesions and sessile serrated lesions between the 45-49 and 50-54 age groups, the study reinforces the rationale behind the revised screening age recommendations,” Dr. Ballester told MedPage.
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