Colon screening recommended to begin at 40

NEW YORK, June 2 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers now advise colon cancer screening before age 50 because adenomas -- pre-cancerous masses in the colon -- develop earlier than thought.

Drs. Alfred Neugut and Andrew Rundle of Columbia University Medical Center in New York found undetected adenomas were present in individuals in their 40s.

"Our results support the theory that adenomas form at an age earlier than we screen for today," Neugut said in a statement. "It is logical to think that if we were to recommend screening for colon cancer at age 40, we may be able to decrease its prevalence even further and save more people from having to battle the disease."

The study, published in the journal Gastroenterology, compared colonoscopy results for 553 patients ages 40-49 and 352 patients ages 50-59. Those with a family history of colon cancer, a history of inflammatory bowel disease -- such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis -- or any malignancy other than skin cancer were excluded.

In the 40- to 49-age group, 14 percent had one or more adenoma and 16 percent in the 50- to 59-age group had one or more. But there was a doubling in the prevalence of abnormal cell growth in the 50-59 age group.