Colonoscopy?

[Monimom]

Good Morning,
I was wondering if you were diagnosed with a scan CT or PET did the Dr still order a colonoscopy ?? thanks

[KimT]

Only a colonoscopy can diagnose colon cancer.

[Lee]

Ditto to what KimT said. My first colonoscopy found my cancer, I had a few other tests including a CAT scan for help in staging.

Has anyone talked to you about him getting a colonoscopy? If they suspect colon cancer, yes he should probably get one.

Lee

P.S. to add, he probably should be scoped to remove any polyps he may have in his colon. Certain polyps turn into cancer.

[DarknessEmbraced]

My colonoscopy diagnosed my cancer. CT scan showed spread. I would get a colonoscopy if you're concerned.*hugs*

[boxhill]

I was diagnosed in the hospital with a CT scan. The residents were going to hold off until the next day or so in hopes of doing a colonoscopy to make sure what was there, but the gastro surgeon on call overruled them because I had a blockage that needed to be addressed immediately. He saw no reason to wait and risk a rupture of the stressed colon.

In less pressing circumstances, I gathered that they would probably do a colonoscopy before launching into any surgery, even if the CT indications were strong.

[JJH]

There have been cases in the news where doctors proceeded with a long course of chemotherapy just on the basis of a suspicious CT scan, with no follow-up biopsies to verify that the spot/lump/mass seen on the scan was in fact malignant. Here is an example of a breast cancer patient who received a large settlement for this type of hasty, erroneous diagnosis.

https://randallmoorelaw.com/texas-woman-wins-malpractice-lawsuit-over-false-positive-for-cancer/

In the case of colorectal cancer, a biopsy of the primary tumor or of one of the remote metastases is usually required to confirm a malignancy before launching chemotherapy. Normally this is done by colonoscopy, but there are other kinds of biopsy procedures, such as needle biopsies, that can also be used to confirm malignancies.