Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related death in America yet less than 45% of Oregonians over 50 will schedule their recommended colonoscopy. The consequence or this non-compliance is that a disease with a relative survival rate of 90% when caught early leads to thousands of unnecessary deaths each year. In fact, it is estimated as many as 60% of deaths from colorectal cancer could be prevented if everyone age 50 and older were screened regularly.*

Non-invasive virtual colonoscopy at EPIC Imaging now offers an important tool to improve patient compliance with colorectal cancer screening. The study is performed with a simple one day prep on a 64-detector CT. The vastly improved software used at EPIC provides electronic bowel cleansing and specialized color mapping for diagnostic accuracy.

In September 2007, the preliminary findings of the long awaited ACRIN trial involving over 2,500 asymptomatic patients over 50 year of age clearly demonstrated the procedure is now ready for widespread use with 90% sensitivity and 86% specificity for adenomas 1cm or larger - comparable to invasive colonoscopy. (Read the article)

* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention