|
|
|
|
|
Share
Preventing Colon Cancer
April 24, 2008
149 thousand new cases of colorectal cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year, and 50 thousand people will die of the disease. A disease that doesn't disciminate. Men and women are affected equally. But colorectal cancer is preventable with early screening.Although colonoscopy is one medical test pretty much everyone wants to avoid, it's also one test that can stop cancer from ever starting. Officials guidlines suggest the first colonoscopy should be at age 50, unless there is a family history of the disease. Santa Monica Gastroenterologist, Dr. Thomas Kun, explains the guidelines, saying "You would do it earlier if you had a family history of colon cancer, in a first degree relative such as a mother, father brother or sister. In that case you, would begin your screening ten years younger than at the age that person was diagnosed with the colon cancer." Dr. Kun says that first colonoscopy is important because it provides the baseline to which future tests will be compared. The official recommendation allows ten years between screenings if nothing is found at the colonoscopy, but Dr. Kun believes that's just too long, saying there's no such thing as a 100 percent perfect examination, so something might develop in that long interval that could be caught if screened sooner. A recent study also brought to light hard-to-detect flat lesions in the colon, which Dr. Kun says is particularly worrisome because those lesions are five times more likely to contain cancer than the more typical raised polyps. Since they are more difficult to detect and tend to develop into more aggressive malignancies, Dr. Kun says the best defense is a good colonoscopy. "The examination is only as good as the preparation, the experience of the examiner and the time that's taken to look at the colon. Those three things are all critical." Another option is virtual colonoscopy, which has recently been endorsed as a screening option for average-risk adults over 50. The virtual test, which is non-invasive, uses a ct-scanner and software that creates detailed 3-d images of the patient's colon. Those images are then examined by a radiologist . If polyps are found, the patient has a regular colonoscopy to have them removed. The good news is that with early screening 90 percent of colon cancers are cured during routine colonoscopies when lesions are removed before they can spread and become deadly. There are also new developments every day in prevention and treatment. For more information, go to the following links: Thomas Kun, M.D. http://www.socalgastrogroup.com/ http://www.cancer.gov/ Copyright © 2008, KTLA
|
59° F
Share With A Friend
Printable Version