Persons with a family history of coloncancer at an early age, or a history of inflammatory bowel disease such as ulcerative colitis, may benefit from screening at an earlier age and may be best served with colonoscopy rather than the other screening techniques.
"None of this applies to people with FAP or non-polyposis colorectal cancer syndromes or very high coloncancer risk based on family history, " Ladabaum says.
Virtually every organization that has issued screening recommendations recommends that a normal-risk person (someone without a family history of coloncancer) start colorectal screening at the age of 50.