Environmental impact of colorectal cancer screening with colonoscopy and multi-target stool DNA (mt-sDNA) testing.

ABSTRACT: The substantial carbon footprint imparted by medical services warrants increased attention to their environmental impact. National guideline organizations such as the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommend multiple modalities for average-risk colorectal cancer (CRC) screening with varying resource intensity. The aim of this study was to quantify the environmental burden for 2 of the most used CRC screening modalities, colonoscopy and the multi-target stool DNA (mt-sDNA) test. A validated CRC microsimulation model was used to estimate the number of screening and follow-up tests for a cohort of 1 million average-risk individuals who underwent screening between ages 45 and 75. Component resources used for mt-sDNA, including waste products, energy, and transportation for colonosc

SUBMITTER: Alcock R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11897791 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature