Noninvasive X-ray Exam Could Replace Colonoscopy

When you reach 50 (and sometimes sooner), doctors want to do all kinds of invasive things to your body. Sure, it keeps you safe and healthy and it's the smart thing to do, but that doesn't make it any more pleasant when you're lying on a cold, hard exam table in one of those drafty paper gowns.

For many people, the annual colonoscopy to check for polyps and colon cancer is one of the least pleasant exams required. Those dreaded scope exams may soon be replaced by a noninvasive x-ray called a virtual colonoscopy or CT colonography.

Two fairly large studies have both shown that as a diagnostic tool the experimental x-ray technique is as accurate in detecting potentially cancerous growths as the invasive scope exam -- and it's faster and cheaper. The x-ray exam can determine which patients require a colonoscopy for polyp removal. In one study only 8% of the participants required a follow-up colonoscopy.

Unfortunately, x-ray exams still require the patient to drink laxatives to purge the bowel so growths can be seen. For many of us, that's the worst part! This is a test you don't want to avoid though. Colon cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in America. An estimated 52,000 people will die of colon cancer this year.

Colon exams are recommended every 10 years beginning at age 50, more often if polyps are found. The new x-ray exams are already being offered by some hospitals and cost about $1200, less than half the cost of a traditional colonoscopy which generally runs about $3300 (most insurers pay 40%). Still considered experimental, the x-ray technique is not covered by many insurance companies. That is expected to change once the technique is endorsed by cancer screening guidelines.