Onkologie. 2012:6(3):165-168

Colon capsule in the context of colorectal cancer screening

Štěpán Suchánek, Michal Voška, Gabriela Vepřeková, Barbora Rotnáglová, Jan Martínek, Miroslav Zavoral

Interní klinika, 1. lékařská fakulta, Univerzita Karlova v Praze a Ústřední vojenská nemocnice &ndash,

On a worldwide scale, the Czech Republic is among the countries with very high rates of and high mortality from colorectal cancer.

Secondary prevention, i. e. identifying precancerous lesions – adenomatous polyps that are subsequently removed, thereby inhibiting

tumor formation, plays an important role in fighting this type of tumor. Population statistical data suggest that the risk of disease with

this tumor type significantly increases with age, namely from the age of 50 years. Therefore, a screening program for sporadic colorectal

cancer has been under way in the Czech Republic since the year 2000. Persons over 50 years of age who have been asymptomatic so far

are offered fecal occult blood test (FOBT). If the test result is positive, a colonoscopic examination follows. A colonoscopic examination

is newly performed even without a previous FOBT in persons older than 55 years. Other screening programs include sigmoidoscopy, a

combination of fecal occult blood test and sigmoidoscopy, and virtual colonography. However, participation of the target population

in this program is still inadequate, particularly when compared to the screening for breast, prostate, and cervical cancers. Hence, it is

our effort to add to the current methods a test that would have similar effectiveness in detecting precancerous lesions, but would be

acceptable on a larger scale. Colon capsule endoscopy (capsule colonoscopy) can become such a procedure.

Keywords: colorectal cancer, screening, colon capsule endoscopy

Published: July 31, 2012  Show citation