Intended for healthcare professionals

Practice Rapid Recommendations

Colorectal cancer screening with faecal immunochemical testing, sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy: a clinical practice guideline

BMJ 2019; 367 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l5515 (Published 02 October 2019) Cite this as: BMJ 2019;367:l5515
Visual summary of recommendation Last updated 19 Jan 2023
No screening FIT Every year FIT Every two years Sigmoidoscopy Single Colonoscopy Single Favours no screening Favours screening We suggest no screening Interventions compared Recommendations Screening options Population We suggest using a tool such as the QCancer® calculator to estimate the risk of colorectal cancer for each person in the next 15 years. This calculates risk, based on: Understanding a person’s risk of cancer can help to determine the benefits and harms of different screening tests for their individual situation. Faecal testing with a faecal immunochemical test (FIT) every year Faecal testing with a faecal immunochemical test (FIT) every two years Endoscopic examination of only the lower part of the colon Endoscopic examination of the entire colon Favours no screening Favours screening Colonoscopy offered if FIT or sigmoidoscopy positive People with an estimated 15 year risk of colorectal cancer below 3% We suggest screening with one of the four screening options People with an estimated 15 year risk of colorectal cancer above 3% Estimating risk Healthy adults with no history of screening Aged 50 to 79 Age Smoking status Medical and family history BMI Sex Ethnicity Link to QCancer® calculator qcancer.org/15yr/colorectal/ Strong All or nearly all informed people would likely want this option. Benefits outweigh harms for almost everyone. Weak Most people would likely want this option. Benefits outweigh harms for the majority, but not for everyone. Weak Most people would likely want this option. Benefits outweigh harms for the majority, but not for everyone. Strong All or nearly all informed people would likely want this option. Benefits outweigh harms for almost everyone. Strong All or nearly all informed people would likely want this option. Benefits outweigh harms for almost everyone. Weak Most people would likely want this option. Benefits outweigh harms for the majority, but not for everyone. Weak Most people would likely want this option. Benefits outweigh harms for the majority, but not for everyone. Strong All or nearly all informed people would likely want this option. Benefits outweigh harms for almost everyone.
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