Earlier screening advised for colon cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer among adults in the United States. More than 140,000 Americans are expected to be diagnosed with CRC in 2018.

Earlier this year, the American Cancer Society (ACS) issued new screening guidelines, making a qualified recommendation that routine colon cancer screening begin at age 45 years. The ACS estimates that more than 16,000 new cases of colon or rectal cancers will be diagnosed this year in Americans younger than 50. Some people are at higher risk and should be screened earlier, including personal or family history of inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer or polyps, or ovarian, endometrial or breast cancer.

Most people don’t realize that colon cancer is a totally preventable cancer. It develops from a benign polyp that over the course of a number of years becomes the carcinoma, which is the cancer. So, there is time to detect the polyps and remove them before they become cancer. In essence, colon cancer can be prevented if people get the colonoscopy on time and follow through with continued screening.

ACS recommends those tests that actually examine the interior of the colon because they cannot only detect cancer, but also prevent it by finding — and removing — polyps or growths that can potentially cause cancer. These tests include:

• A flexible sigmoidoscopy (every five years)

• A colonoscopy (every 10 years)

• Or a CT colonography or virtual colonoscopy (every five years)

Polyps found during these tests can be removed on the spot, simply and painlessly.