Colon Cancer / The Facts
The Power to Change Your Life & Medicare Prevention Services
The Good News
Get the test. Get the polyp. Get the cure.*
-Colorectal cancer is curable 90% of the time when detected early.
-Most of these deaths can be prevented by getting a colonoscopy at age 50, or earlier with a family history. A colonoscopy is a screening test which can be used to detect certain pre-cancerous growths, or polyps, in the colon and rectum and removed them before they ever develop into cancer.
-Everyone should be screened at age 50, even when there is no family history, since 70 to 75% of colon cancer cases fall into this category.
-The earlier colorectal cancer is detected, the more curable it is.
*American Cancer Society Colon Cancer Awareness Campaign
The Bad News
Colorectal cancer, otherwise known as colon cancer, is the second-leading cause of U. S. cancer deaths for men and women combined.
-Colorectal cancer affects people of all ethnic backgrounds.
-Every year, nearly 150,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with the disease, and nearly 60,000 die.
-More than 13,000 colorectal cancer cases are diagnosed each year in people under the age of 50.
-By the time symptoms occur (intestinal pain, blood in the stool), colorectal cancer has often metastasized to another organ.
Talk to your doctor. Know your personal risks for this disease. This one can be cured!
