Colorectal cancer screening — too important to ignore

If you have a patient who is reluctant to have colorectal cancer screening, ask him or her this question: If you knew you could reduce your risk of dying of colorectal cancer by 60 percent, would you do it?

Most patients will probably answer, “Yes, of course.” But even though colorectal screening has been shown to be effective in reducing the risk of death, many people are still hesitant to do it. Why?

Reasons for hesitating range from apprehension and embarrassment about colorectal cancer screening tests, such as colonoscopies, to a natural reluctance many feel about undergoing testing when they feel healthy and show no symptoms of disease.

But for people over age 50, colorectal cancer screening makes sense. In fact, it can save lives.

Make sure that your patients know they could be at risk for colorectal cancer even if they have no family history of the disease, and if they have no obvious symptoms, such as a change in bowel habits or blood in the stool. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that roughly 75 percent of colorectal cancers occur in people with no known risk factors. People age 50 years or older are at the greatest risk for colon cancer, as well as people with:

A family history of colorectal cancer or colorectal polyps
A personal history of cancer of the colon, rectum, ovary, endometrium, or breast
Certain diseases of the intestines, such as inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, or Crohn’s disease
Genetic syndromes

Statistics indicate that screenings work, as the rate of new cases and deaths from colorectal cancer has declined by almost 5 percent since the period between 2002 and 2004. Still, more than 147,000 new cases are found each year, and over 57,000 people die from colorectal cancer each year, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Many factors determine a person’s chances of recovery from colorectal cancer, and none is more important than the stage of the cancer. The earlier it is found, the greater the chance of full recovery. We encourage you to suggest colorectal cancer screening to your patients.