There is even an MRI based “coloscopy” that isn’t invasive. Many accurate alternatives available, yet they push and push and push the scope. I find it baffling.
The situation is this. If you have polyps, and roughly 50% of people over 65 do have polyps, there is a 5% chance that any of them will ever develop into cancer. The problem is 5% of 50% of the whole population is a lot of cancer cases.
Lifetime risk is about 4%. After age 70 it becomes less clear that screening should continue, because your life expectancy is coming into play and you may die of something else. If you have a family history that 4% increases.
The FIT test concept is that the polyp that is going to develop into cancer will bleed before that happens.
The scope means different things at different ages. It’s mostly a routine screen at younger ages, but at older ages it is as much a removal mechanism as it is a screening mechanism because the number of polyps are just so large in the population.
MONEY!!!!!