&NA;Colonscopy resulted in detection of cancers in 10 per cent of patients examined. These cancers were at an earlier stage than expected, possibly due to colonoscopy. Many were small, suggesting that the most fruitful approach to eradicating cancer is through the management of polyps. The indications for colonoscopy should remain the clinical or radiologic suspicion of colonic cancer.These encouraging results suggest that colonoscopy offers a significant advance in cancer detection. Further results from much larger series are eagerly awaited to see whether they confirm these preliminary findings.