Patients with early-onset colorectal cancer do not require more frequent colonoscopy surveillance than recommended by current guidelines compared to patients with average-onset colorectal cancer, according to a May study published in the journal of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
The study identified 612 patients with early-onset colorectal cancer and 647 patients with average-onset CRC.
Currently, there are no specific guidelines in the U.S. regarding optimal colonoscopy surveillance intervals for patients with early-onset CRC, according to a June 17 Medscape report.
The study determined that the risk for advanced neoplasia from the initial surgery to the first surveillance colonoscopy was 29% lower in the early-onset colorectal cancer patients than in the average-onset CRC patients.
Patients with early-onset CRC were less likely to have advanced polyps than those with average-onset colorectal cancer.
Patients with early-onset CRC did not exhibit increased occurrences of cancers, advanced adenomas, or nonadvanced adenomas on second and third surveillance colonoscopies, and the likelihood of developing advanced polyps was 1.7 times higher in patients with advanced-onset CRC than in those with early-onset CRC.