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Current guidelines recommend surveillance colonoscopy 3 years after removal of a high-risk adenoma. But could waiting 5 years be just as effective? To find out, researchers conducted a randomized trial among 11,000 European patients who had high-risk adenomas removed. Half were assigned to begin surveillance colonoscopy at 3 years and half at 5 years. The 3-year group underwent a second colonoscopy at 5 years to enable a valid 5-year comparison.
Colorectal cancer incidence at 5.5 years was similar with the two approaches (0.8%).
Only 48 cancers occurred across the groups, with no apparent differences in stage distribution.
Advanced adenomas were identified more often in the 3-year group than in the 5-year group (14.6% vs. 11.…