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Older patients with shorter life expectancies may receive less benefit from colorectal cancer screening
We
demonstrated that colorectal cancer screening may have limited utility for
patients with a substantial burden of chronic illness. For
patients who received a diagnosis of cancer, a stage I cancer diagnosis
would represent the best-case scenario for enjoying the benefits of early
detection. That is, cancer screening provides the greatest benefit to
those patients who have a cancer that is identified while it is still at a
small, curable stage. It is important to note that in many instances,
small cancers may take up to five years before they grow large enough to
cause symptoms and affect health. However, we found that men and
women with 3 or more chronic conditions had a life expectancy of
approximately 5 to 6 years if they were in their early 70s at diagnosis.
Given that screening takes up to five years to yield a mortality
benefit, the utility of screening such patients is questionable.
Bibliographic reference:
Cary P Gross Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program and Primary Care Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
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