Screening Guidelines May Fail to Catch 10 Percent of Colon Cancers

Utah’s unique resources of genealogy and cancer data, combined with records from two major health care organizations, made it possible for researchers to determine that the current screening guidelines allow a large number of colon cancer cases to go undetected. Dr. N. Jewel Samadder, of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, discusses how the findings can affect colon cancer screening guidelines and explains that because of the state’s unique storehouses of genealogy and medical records, a study covering such a broad spectrum of the population couldn’t have happened anywhere but Utah. Samadder also discusses the future of combining records from multiple sources to provide consumers more accurate health care information.