Early colorectal screenings saves lives

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Early detection of colorectal cancer can save your life. Every year, 50,000 Americans die of colon cancer, but most colon cancers can be prevented.

Dr. Kelli Bullard Dunn of Roswell Park Cancer Institute said, "Colorectal cancer, unlike a lot of other cancers, we think starts off as a benign polyp, that is a benign growth in the colon, that if we catch it early enough, you can take it off before it ever becomes cancer, and then you won't need my services."

Dr. Bullard Dunn is chief of colon and rectal surgery at Roswell Park. She points out that
polyps, and most early colon cancers, don't have symptoms.

"You could be walking around with a half dozen polyps in your colon, and there's no way you would know it. It doesn't make you feel bad, it doesn't give you pain, it doesn't change your bowel habits, so the only way to know is to look," explained Dr. Bullard Dunn.

And the way to look is through a colonoscope, a flexible narrow tube that can extend through the entire five-foot length of the large intestine. Most people are, to say the least, not eager to have that done, but it's really not so bad.

Dr. Bullard Dunn said, "Almost every patient I've seen will say, "Wow, anticipating it was a whole lot worse than the test.""

Using a colonoscope, a physician can find and remove a polyp before it becomes a cancer. People age 50 or older should have a colonoscopy, and some people even at a younger age. If you have questions about colon cancer, come to a Colorectal Cancer Expo on Saturday, March 19 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Boulevard Mall and speak with Dr. Bullard Dunn and her colleagues.

"This is a disease that people should be thinking about; they should be talking to their doctors about, they should be talking to their family members one of the most important things about any cancer but colorectal cancer in particular is knowing what your family history is," said Dr. Bullard Dunn.

Colon cancer is one of the diseases that people don't like to talk about, but if you discover that you have relatives who had colon cancer, that may change the way yous should approach preventing colon cancer in yourself. You can learn more by calling 1-877-ASK-RCPI

>> You can also learn more about colorectal cancer here