Over 50? It's Time to Get Screened for Colon Cancer

Turning 50 marks a significant milestone in one’s life. But along with the wisdom and experience of age comes a long list of new wellness considerations, including critically important preventative health screenings. Unfortunately, millions of Americans in this age group, including many of my own patients, ignore or avoid doctors’ recommendations.

One important example of the impact of screening avoidance is colon cancer. Considered one of the most preventable cancers, colon cancer grows slowly in the body, first developing into a polyp—or non-cancerous growth—that can take several years to become cancer. If these polyps are identified early through routine screening and removed, doctors can effectively prevent cancer from ever forming. For people whose colon cancer is caught early, the chances of survival are high. This is why colonoscopy is the gold standard in colon cancer prevention.

The challenge is that despite the American Cancer Society’s screening guidelines that call for men and women at average risk to begin colon cancer screening at age 50, 23 million Americans in that age group do not get screened, increasing their risk of a late-stage diagnosis when treatment is difficult and survival rates are low. This year alone, more than 95,000 Americans—including 2,500 in Maryland—will be diagnosed with colon cancer and more than 50,000 will die from the disease.

There are a number of reasons why people don’t get screened for colon cancer—discomfort, embarrassment or even fear. Colonoscopy is understood to be the best screening tool for colon cancer. It not only detects cancerous and precancerous lesions, but they can be removed during the procedure. However, there are some patients that are unable to undergo colonoscopy for medical or personal reasons.

If a patient is unable to have a colonoscopy, there are less invasive tests, such as fecal occult blood tests (FOBT) and fecal immunochemical tests (FIT), that are also available for patients looking for an alternative screening option. These tests are noninvasive and designed to detect blood in the stool that may be caused by a polyp or cancer. However, because there are unrelated conditions that can cause blood in the stool, and not all polyps or lesions actively bleed, these tests may not be reliable on their own for the detection of cancer or pre-cancerous polyps.

Another option approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) called Cologuard offers patients an accurate, noninvasive screening option that they can take in the privacy of their own home. What makes Cologuard different from other noninvasive colon cancer screening tests is that it is designed to detect both blood and altered DNA from abnormal cells known to be associated with cancer and pre-cancerous polyps that are shed into the stool as it passes through the colon.

The best part is that Cologuard doesn’t require any prep work or dietary restrictions. It is prescribed by a doctor and sent directly to the patient’s home. After depositing a sample in the collection kit, patients ship the kit back to the lab through a pre-paid mailer. If the test result is positive, the doctor will refer the patient for a diagnostic colonoscopy. If the result is negative, the patient should continue to participate in a screening program at an interval and with a method appropriate for the individual patient.

In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Cologuard was found to be a highly sensitive test in detecting colorectal cancer—in fact, it was able to detect 92 percent of cancers in average risk patients.

Colon cancer is preventable and treatable if caught early and I’m grateful that, today, my patients have a number of screening options available to them. The best test is one that gets done—so don’t put it off any longer, now is the time to call your doctor and get screened.