GI & Endoscopy

The American College of Gastroenterology has responded with concern to recent CMS estimates that only 50 percent of Medicare beneficiaries have received some sort of colorectal cancer screening.

Computed tomography volumetry measures correlated well with diabetes mellitus status in patients with pancreatic disease, according to a study published in Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery.

Although colonoscopy is the preferred method of screening for colorectal cancer, physicians should discuss all screening options with their patients, and female patients should be screened using the method that they are most comfortable with and most likely to complete,…

Brennan M.R. Spiegel, MD, associate professor of medicine at UCLA, says although colonoscopy is the only colorectal cancer screening test that allows physicians to identify and remove polyps from the entire colon, the screening modality is still an "imperfect test."

Data from a recent study suggests patients with gallstones are at higher risk of mortality, particularly from cardiovascular disease and cancer, than patients without gallstones, according to an abstract published in Gastroenterology.

Physicians at the University of Cincinnati are conducting a seven-year trial to test a cholesterol drug for the prevention of recurring colorectal cancer in patients who have been surgically treated.

A combination of anti-delta-like 4 ligand and irinotecan significantly reduced colon cancer stem cells and increased tumor cell apoptosis in mutant KRAS tumors, according to a study published in Cancer Research.

Seventeen percent of hospitals offered computed tomographic colonography in 2008 compared to 13 percent in 2005, according to a study published in Journal of the American College of Radiology.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center is conducting the first clinical trial to test surgery for Type 2 Diabetes in overweight or mildly obese patients, according to a news release.

Endoscopic removal of precancerous cells in patients with confirmed, high-risk Barrett's esophagus is recommended over surveillance, according to a medical position statement by the American Gastroenterological Institute.