Join Dr. Kenneth Hopland as he discusses the importance of colon cancer screening, and gives more details about the screening options listed below.
When Should I Start Screening?
- Most guidelines recommend average-risk individuals start screening at age 50.
- African Americans and people with a family history of cancer or polyps should start screening earlier.
What Screening Options are Available?
- Colonoscopy. Often called “the gold standard” colonoscopy is the only screening that both detects and prevents cancer. Colonoscopy is shown to reduce the incidence of cancer by 89%.
- Hemoccult (FIT) Testing. An at-home test that screens for blood present in stool sample.
- Cologhard. Another at-home test, Cologuard also screens for blood in stool, as well as pre-cancerous DNA.
What are Colon Cancer Risk Factors?
- Heavy alcohol consumption
- Smoking
- Obesity
- Long-term irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Family history of colorectal cancer
What are Colon Cancer Symptoms?
- Persistent rectal bleeding
- Blood in stools
- change in bowel habits
- Abdominal pain
- Loss of appetite
- Unexplained weight loss
Colorectal Cancer Health Center by WebMD
- Colorectal cancer is diagnosed in more than 130,000 people each year in the U.S. alone. Get in-depth information on colorectal cancer including articles on causes, symptoms, prevention and treatments.