U.S. lobbying group the CTC Coalition has sent a letter to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), asking it to reconsider its negative recommendation for screening virtual colonoscopy (also known as CT colonography or CTC).
The letter was in response to an August 5 announcement in the Federal Register seeking health topics for the USPSTF to consider.
The coalition, which consists of CTC providers, patient advocates, and technology developers, said it was encouraged by the USPSTF's "A" grade recommendation for other methods of colorectal screening. However, it's asking USPSTF to review CTC data that it claims demonstrate that the exam offers patients a "less expensive, minimally invasive option that increases screening rates and effectively detects cancers early," the organization wrote in an August 31 statement.
The coalition argued that reimbursement of virtual colonoscopy screening will save lives because it increases colorectal cancer screening rates.
In 2009, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), following an extended review process that included a negative recommendation by USPSTF, rejected a bid to provide national coverage for CTC.
A recent study from the National Naval Medical Center/Walter Reed Army Medical Center found that 40% of patients who expressed an opinion chose to undergo CTC rather than conventional colonoscopy. In addition, 37% of patients who underwent colon cancer screening said they would not have been screened without CTC.
A similar effect has been seen at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where overall screening rates for colorectal cancer more than doubled over a five-year period following the introduction of virtual colonoscopy as an additional screening option, the coalition wrote.
Related Reading
Lack of virtual colonoscopy coverage a barrier to screening, August 9, 2010
Access to VC promoted as tool to increase screening, July 9, 2010
JACR editorial: Medicare used double standard in VC decision, September 22, 2009
NEJM editorial lauds CMS rejection of VC, May 28, 2009
CMS rejects Medicare coverage for virtual colonoscopy, May 12, 2009
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