J Formos Med Assoc
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Comparative Study
Colorectal cancer screening in asymptomaic adults: comparison of colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy and fecal occult blood tests.
Fecal occult blood tests (FOBT) and flexible sigmoidoscopy have previously been recommended for colon cancer screening. More recently, studies have recommended colonoscopy due to the high rates of advanced neoplasm not detected by FOBT and sigmoidoscopy. Previous studies of the effectiveness of colonoscopic screening in Taiwan were limited to families of patients with colorectal cancer. This study compared colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy and FOBT for colorectal cancer screening in asymptomatic adults. ⋯ Colonoscopy can detect neoplastic lesions undetectable by FOBT and sigmoidoscopy in asymptomatic subjects. These results suggest that colonoscopy should be the method of choice in colon cancer screening.