First time I've heard of it, but I think I'll stick with the tried and true.
As a board-certified colon & rectal surgeon, I’m often asked about the differences between colonoscopies with your doctor vs. the Cologuard at-home test. Cologuard has raised lots of hype recently with all the tv, print and digital advertising. Questions have been raised: Is Cologuard as safe as a colonoscopy? Is Cologuard as effective as a colonoscopy? Unfortunately, the answer is no.
Cologuard does not prevent colon cancer like colonoscopies do
Cologuard is a do-it-yourself, mail-in DNA test that helps detect some colon cancers—but it’s not a great preventative because it detects cancers only AFTER you have developed it. On the other hand, a colonoscopy PREVENTS colon cancer by removing the potentially cancerous polyps before they become cancerous. Colonoscopies detect 92% of colorectal cancers and precancerous polyps. That’s a big, potentially lifesaving difference that supports colonoscopy over other screening methods.
As a colonoscopy provider, I will carefully examine your large bowel using a thin, high-tech tube with a tiny camera at the end, and remove cancer-causing polyps. The procedure is completely painless, and takes less than 30 minutes. The polyps are sent to the lab and analyzed to identify the type of polyp(s) you have. That way I know when we need to see you next.
Cologuard, however, involves no visual element and no removal of cells. It detects the presence of abnormal DNA through testing your stool—and 42% of the time it does not catch precancerous polyps. It detects only 69% of polyps with high-grade dysplasia, which is a term that describes how much your polyp(s) looks like cancer under the microscope. These statistics published by the government’s National Institute of Health (NIH) provide troubling data, and indicate Cologuard is far less effective than colonoscopy.
