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Recent evidence indicates that interval cancers (tumors detected relatively soon after a negative colonoscopy or a polypectomy) are more common than was previously thought (Journal Watch Gastroenterology Aug 9 2005). In two separate studies, investigators reviewed the medical records of colorectal cancer patients at a Veteran Affairs hospital to compare the characteristics of interval and noninterval cancers.
In the first study, 45 (5.4%) of 830 patients had received their diagnoses within 5 years (mean, 33.8 months) after complete colonoscopy and were considered to have interval cancers. None of these cancers was diagnosed within 12 months of the index colonoscopy. Only 15 of the 45 patients had negative findings at the time of their index …