March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
The recent news that fewer Americans are dying of cancer pointed to the importance of screening for colorectal cancer. Of all cancers, the sharpest decline was for colorectal cancers – a drop of 5.7% -- and the American Cancer Society says that drop is due to more screening.
Found early, 90% of colorectal cases are curable
Screening can catch pre-cancerous growth called polyps, which can be removed before becoming cancer.
“When found early, nine out of ten colorectal cases are curable,” said Alan J. Herline, M.D., assistant professor of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering and a board-certified Colon and Rectal surgeon at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. “Colorectal cancer is preventable, treatable, and beatable.”
Colorectal cancer, which includes cancers of the colon and rectum, is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States in men and women combined. This year, more than 150,000 Americans will be diagnosed and more than 50,000 will die of the disease. It affects men and women in equal numbers.
Guidelines for screening
In conjunction with National Colorectal Cancer Month, Vanderbilt-Ingram reminds you of the following guidelines for screening from the American Cancer Society:
Beginning at age 50, men and women of average risk should begin the following:
- Yearly fecal occult blood test (FOBT) or fecal immunochemical test (FIT), flexible sigmoidoscopy every five years or a combination of annual FOBT or FIT with sigmoidoscopy every five years (preferred over ether alone)
- Double-contrast barium enema every five years
- Colonoscopy every 10 years
- Any positive test should be followed up with a colonoscopy.
You should discuss beginning earlier screening if you have a personal history of colorectal cancer or polyps, a strong family history of either, a personal history of chronic inflammatory bowel disease or a family history of a hereditary colorectal cancer syndrome. If you have an immediate family member that has been diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer, screening should begin ten years sooner than your family member’s diagnosis of cancer.
If you face a colorectal cancer diagnosis, Vanderbilt-Ingram encourages you to weigh all your treatment options, which may include surgery (minimally invasive or traditional), chemotherapy, radiation, investigational treatments called clinical trials or a combination.
