Just looking for info about above. What to do next? Should it be done as soon as possible. What is the treatment of choice? Thanks for your help.
REPLY:
Polyps of the colon are pre-cancerous lesions and need to be removed. A polyp found at the time of routine sigmoidoscopy may not be the only polyp present in the colon. A complete exam of the colon (colonoscopy) is indicated to look at every inch of the colon and remove not only the polyp we already know about but any others discovered during the exam.
People who have had a polyp removed need to be examined every three to five years with colonoscopy in order to find and remove any new polyps which have formed since the last exam.
Several national organizations are discussing a strategy to reduce colon cancer incidence and mortality in the general population by performing a single colonoscopy to identify and remove adenomatous polyps in all individuals at age 55-60. This is still very much in the talking stage although a trial is in progress in the VA Hospital System and a small study was reported in Indianapolis according to Dr. Sidney J. Winawer. Dr. Winawer is chief of the gastroenterology and nutrition service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, head of the Laboratory for Gastrointestinal Cancer Research, and in charge of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for the Prevention of Colorectal Cancer.
In the meantime we should all have regular rectal exams, get our stool checked for hidden blood, and have a flexible sigmoidoscopy as part of a routine physical exam periodically beginning at age 50.
You should make arrangements for your colonoscopy within the next several weeks.
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Bruce Sckolnick, M.D.
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