Aging: New Guidelines on Colorectal Screening.

A government task force has recommended stopping colorectal cancer screening at age 75 for people who have been screened regularly and have no evidence of disease. It also advised that no one over 85 be screened, updating a 2002 report that recommended regular screening for everyone over 50. The task force still advises regular colonoscopies, sigmoidoscopies and fecal occult blood tests beginning at 50. But it concluded that after 75, the risks of the procedures begin to outweigh the benefits for most patients. After 85, they concluded, there is good evidence that screening is ineffective in extending life for anyone. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]