Panel Suggests Removing Colon As Pre-Emptive Strike

People with genes that increase their risk of one form of colorectal cancer may want to have their healthy colons removed as a pre-emptive measure, a medical task force says.

The Cancer Genetics Study Consortium, made up of 11 doctors and other health professionals, stopped short of actually recommending such surgery. It said only that colon removal can be offered as an option to these patients.

Also, people with such genes should have a colonoscopy every one to three years, starting at age 20 to 25, the task force said. In a colonoscopy, a flexible tube is inserted deep into the colon and lets the doctor see polyps or cancer.

Colorectal cancer is the nation’s No. 2 cancer killer. The American Cancer Society estimates that 54,900 people will die of it in 1997.

The recommendations, published in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association, involve only hereditary nonpolyposis cancer. Three percent to 5 percent of the 150,000 Americans diagnosed each year with colorectal cancer have it.

The recommendations were designed to serve as guidelines for doctors now that genetic testing can pinpoint people at increased risk for colon cancer. People with the genes have a 68 percent to 75 percent risk of colon cancer by age 65.

The recommendations largely echo guidelines issued in January by the American Gastroenterological Association.