Premier surgeon reminds patients about importance of screenings
It’s March. Got your blue on? It’s easy to spot the sea of pink that shows up each October, and most people readily identify pink with breast cancer awareness and know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Far fewer know that blue is the color associated with colorectal cancer awareness or that March is the month designated for awareness of the disease. In March, you’re much more likely to spot a sea of green than a sea of blue.
“Colorectal cancer doesn’t garner a lot of press,” said Dr. Gregory Midis, an oncological surgeon with Premier Surgical Associates. “We want to raise awareness of this disease that is treatable but far too often results in death. It is estimated that as many as 60 percent of colorectal cancer deaths could be prevented if all men and women age 50 or older were routinely screened.”
Colorectal cancer equally affects both men and women, is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in America, and is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in our country.
Early detection makes treatment easier and more successful, which is the basis for the recommendation that beginning at age 50 all men and women have a colonoscopy every 10 years. Screenings should begin sooner and occur more frequently for those with certain risk factors.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the following are colorectal cancer risk factors:
• Age. The risk of developing colorectal cancer increases with advancing age. More than 90 percent of cases occur in people aged 50 or older.
• A history of inflammatory bowel disease.
• A personal or family history of colorectal cancer or colorectal polyps.
• A genetic syndrome such as familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) or hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (Lynch syndrome).
• Lifestyle factors, such as a lack of regular physical activity; low fruit and vegetable intake; a low-fiber and high-fat diet; overweight and obesity; alcohol consumption; and tobacco use.
“Even if you don’t have any of these risk factors, we recommend that you undergo a colonoscopy if you have warning signs, such as blood in or on the stool; chronic diarrhea or constipation; or other chronic stomach problems,” said Midis.
Midis recently successfully treated a 45-year-old patient with advanced colorectal cancer. The patient had previously visited a doctor complaining of warning signs, but a colonoscopy was not performed at that time.
When symptoms persisted and a colonoscopy was performed two years later, the screening revealed a large rectal mass. Later tests indicated the cancer had reached Stage IV, which has a 6 percent five-year survival rate far below the 74 percent survival rate at Stage I.
Following chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, the patient is now cancer free, but treatment would have been much easier and the disease much less progressed had a colonoscopy been performed two years earlier.
“The best advice I can give anyone is to get a colonoscopy,” said Midis.
