TUESDAY, June 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Rates of colorectal cancer detection through colonoscopy screening are similar for adults aged 45 to 49 years and 50 to 54 years, according to a research letter published online June 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Jeffrey K. Lee, M.D., from Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Pleasanton, and colleagues investigated colorectal neoplasia yields at screening colonoscopy among adults aged 45 to 49 years (4,380 patients) versus 50 to 54 years (7,651 patients).

The researchers found that screening colonoscopy outcomes were generally slightly less frequent among the younger group versus the older group. However, only risk for any adenoma was statistically significant (35.4 versus 40.8 percent; adjusted risk ratio [aRR], 0.86; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.82 to 0.90). Risk for advanced adenoma (3.8 versus 4.1 percent; aRR, 0.90; 95 percent CI, 0.75 to 1.09), advanced serrated lesion (1.5 versus 1.8 percent; aRR, 0.85; 95 percent CI, 0.63 to 1.14), any sessile serrated lesion (10.2 versus 10.4 percent; aRR, 0.98; 95 percent CI, 0.88 to 1.10), and colorectal cancer (0.1 versus 0.1 percent; aRR, 0.56; 95 percent CI, 0.15 to 2.07) did not differ significantly between the age groups. 

“The current study findings extend the observation of similar screening colonoscopy detection rates for conventional adenomas and sessile serrated lesions in those aged 45 to 49 years versus 50 to 54 years and support the suggestion that there is likely no need to reduce adenoma or sessile serrated lesion detection rate benchmarks because of the infusion of younger patients into the screening pool,” the authors write.

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