Screening sigmoidoscopy for colorectal cancer: further pieces in the jigsaw

• School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia, Fremantle Hospital Campus, Fremantle, WA.

---

• 1. National Health and Medical Research Council. Guidelines for the prevention, early detection and management of colorectal cancer: a guide for general practitioners. Canberra: NHMRC, 2000.
• 2. Walsh JM, Terdiman JP. Colorectal cancer screening. JAMA 2003; 289: 1288-1296.
• 3. Selby JV, Friedman GD, Quesenberry CP, Weiss NC. A case control study of screening sigmoidoscopy and mortality from colorectal cancer. N Engl J Med 1992; 326: 653-657.
• 4. Collett JA, Olynyk JK, Platell CF. Flexible sigmoidoscopy screening for colorectal cancer in average-risk people: update of a community-based project. Med J Aust 2000; 173: 463-466.
• 5. Platell C, Philpott J, Olynyk J. Flexible sigmoidoscopy screening for colorectal neoplasia in average-risk people: evaluation of a five-year rescreening interval. Med J Aust 2002; 176: 371-373.
• 6. UK Flexible Sigmoidoscopy Screening Trial Investigators. Single flexible sigmoidoscopy screening to prevent colorectal cancer: baseline findings of a UK multicentre randomised trial. Lancet 2002; 359: 1291-1300.
• 7. Levin TR, Conell C, Shapiro JA, et al. Complications of screening flexible sigmoidoscopy. Gastroenterology 2002; 123: 1786-1792.
• 8. Viiala CH, Zimmerman M, Cullen DJE, Hoffman N. Complication rates of colonoscopy in an Australian teaching hospital environment. Intern Med J 2003; 33: 355-359.
• 9. Lewis J, Ng K, Hung K, et al. Detection of proximal adenomatous polyps with screening sigmoidoscopy. Arch Intern Med 2003; 163: 413-420.
• 10. Schoenfeld P, Lipscomb S, Crook J, et al. Accuracy of polyp detection by gastroenterologists and nurse endoscopists during flexible sigmoidoscopy: a randomized trial. Gastroenterology 1999; 117: 312-318.
• 11. Rex DK, Cutler CS, Lemmel GT, et al. Colonoscopic miss rates of adenomas determined by back-to-back colonoscopies. Gastroenterology 1997; 112: 24-28.
• 12. Schoen R, Pinsky P, Weissfeld J, et al. Results of repeat sigmoidoscopy 3 years after a negative examination. JAMA 2003; 290: 41-48.
• 13. O’Leary BA, Olynyk JK, Neville AM, Platell CF. Cost-effectiveness of colorectal cancer screening: comparison of community-based flexible sigmoidoscopy with faecal occult blood testing and colonoscopy. J Gastroenterol Hepatol 2004; 19: 38-47.
• 14. Pickhardt PJ, Choi JR, Hwang I, et al. Computed tomographic virtual colonoscopy to screen for colorectal neoplasia in asymptomatic adults. N Engl J Med 2003; 349: 2191-2200.