eprintid: 10065198 rev_number: 22 eprint_status: archive userid: 608 dir: disk0/10/06/51/98 datestamp: 2019-01-08 08:38:09 lastmod: 2021-09-24 21:56:12 status_changed: 2019-01-08 08:38:09 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Cross, AJ creators_name: Wooldrage, K creators_name: Robbins, EC creators_name: Pack, K creators_name: Brown, JP creators_name: Hamilton, W creators_name: Thompson, MR creators_name: Flashman, KG creators_name: Halligan, S creators_name: Thomas-Gibson, S creators_name: Vance, M creators_name: Saunders, BP creators_name: Atkin, W title: Whole-colon investigation vs. flexible sigmoidoscopy for suspected colorectal cancer based on presenting symptoms and signs: a multicentre cohort study ispublished: inpress divisions: UCL divisions: B02 divisions: C10 divisions: D17 divisions: FI6 note: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. abstract: BACKGROUND: Patients with suspected colorectal cancer (CRC) usually undergo colonoscopy. Flexible sigmoidoscopy (FS) may be preferred if proximal cancer risk is low. We investigated which patients could undergo FS alone. METHODS: Cohort study of 7375 patients (≥55 years) referred with suspected CRC to 21 English hospitals (2004-2007), followed using hospital records and cancer registries. We calculated yields and number of needed whole-colon examinations (NNE) to diagnose one cancer by symptoms/signs and subsite. We considered narrow (haemoglobin <11 g/dL men; <10 g/dL women) and broad (<13 g/dL men; <12 g/dL women) anaemia definitions and iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA). RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-seven proximal and 429 distal CRCs were diagnosed. A broad anaemia definition identified 80% of proximal cancers; a narrow definition with IDA identified 39%. In patients with broad definition anaemia and/or abdominal mass, proximal cancer yield and NNE were 4.8% (97/2022) and 21. In patients without broad definition anaemia and/or abdominal mass, with rectal bleeding or increased stool frequency (41% of cohort), proximal cancer yield and NNE were 0.4% (13/3031) and 234. CONCLUSION: Most proximal cancers are accompanied by broad definition anaemia. In patients without broad definition anaemia and/or abdominal mass, with rectal bleeding or increased stool frequency, proximal cancer is rare and FS should suffice. date: 2019 date_type: published official_url: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-018-0335-z oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green article_type_text: Journal Article verified: verified_manual elements_id: 1616830 doi: 10.1038/s41416-018-0335-z pii: 10.1038/s41416-018-0335-z lyricists_name: Halligan, Michael Stephen lyricists_id: HALLI02 actors_name: Bracey, Alan actors_id: ABBRA90 actors_role: owner full_text_status: public publication: British Journal of Cancer event_location: England issn: 1532-1827 citation: Cross, AJ; Wooldrage, K; Robbins, EC; Pack, K; Brown, JP; Hamilton, W; Thompson, MR; ... Atkin, W; + view all <#> Cross, AJ; Wooldrage, K; Robbins, EC; Pack, K; Brown, JP; Hamilton, W; Thompson, MR; Flashman, KG; Halligan, S; Thomas-Gibson, S; Vance, M; Saunders, BP; Atkin, W; - view fewer <#> (2019) Whole-colon investigation vs. flexible sigmoidoscopy for suspected colorectal cancer based on presenting symptoms and signs: a multicentre cohort study. British Journal of Cancer 10.1038/s41416-018-0335-z <https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-018-0335-z>. (In press). Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10065198/1/s41416-018-0335-z.pdf