On virtual colonoscopy

Filed in archive Studies on August 4, 2005

A study says that virtual colonoscopy can detect cancers outside the colon:

Virtual colonoscopy can spot cancers and growths beyond the colon because it takes a picture of the entire abdominal cavity and pelvis, a new study says.

That means that, besides detecting colorectal cancers, a virtual colonoscopy can find cancers and other "clinically important" conditions that would be missed with standard colonoscopy. And this can be done at very little additional cost, the study researchers added.

Virtual colonoscopy -- called computed tomographic colonography -- is a noninvasive screening method for detecting colon cancer. It uses a series of images to visually reconstruct the interior of the colon on a computer. Unlike standard colonoscopy -- an invasive procedure that looks only at the interior of the colon -- virtual colonoscopy sees surrounding areas of the lower torso as well.

However, it's still not ready for prime-time. Any suspicious lesions still needs a regular colonoscopy for biopsy. As for detecting extra-colonic lesions, that would make sense. Akin to full-body scanning, finding incidental tumors may or may not be helpful. (Reinberg, "Study Finds Virtual Colonoscopy Spots More Than Colon Cancer ", Forbes, Aug.3)