Screening for bowel cancer with colonoscopy could reduce cases of the disease by 80 percent in people with a high risk of the illness, researchers said in a study on Tuesday.It would allow doctors to detect pre-cancerous growths which could be removed before they developed into cancer."We now know that screening with colonoscopy prevents the majority of bowel cancers in people with a family history,” said Professor Peter Sasieni, of the charity Cancer Research UK, in a statement."The study shows that screening isn’t necessary before the age of 45 and, even then, it only needs to be performed every five years or so."The findings are reported online by the British Medical Journal.
