Virtual Cancer Screening?
Level - GradNew cases of colon cancer — and deaths from it — are dropping in the United States, but not as fast as they might if more people used life-saving screening tests that can prevent the disease say experts. "Less than half of all Americans who should, are using the screening tests recommended," said Durado Brooks, MD, director of colon and prostate cancer prevention programs for the American Cancer Society (ACS)1. "We're now losing more than 56,000 lives every year to colon cancer, and that number could be cut in half if everyone got screened as the guidelines suggest," said Brooks1.
One of the factors contributing to this low level of screening is the discomfort associated with the invasive nature of the colonoscopy procedure, the primary screening technique colon cancer. Your team has been hired as consultants by the ACS to advise them on the current status of the development of non-invasive virtual colonoscopy systems. Specifically, the ACS wants to know:
(a) How do the current capabilities of these virtual systems to detect pre-cancerous polyps compare to those of colonoscopy systems?
(b) What are the fundamental limitations that determine the ability of the virtual systems to detect the presence of small polyps?
(c) How will the costs of screening procedures using the virtual systems compare to colonoscopy procedures?
(d) What research still needs to be conducted before the ACS could begin to consider recommending virtual colonoscopies as an alternative screening procedure?