The following organizations have invested time and resources into provider initiatives to increase screening: UNMC College of Public Health, American Cancer Society, Nebraska Cancer Coalition, Nebraska Comprehensive Cancer Control, Federally Qualified Health Centers, Local Health Departments, and provider groups.
Advertisement
Stool tests were not used because occult blood determination was very inaccurate, but three or four years ago a new FITstool test was initiated; this is a very accurate simple test to detect microscopic bleeding which in as many as 30-50 per cent of patients indicates the presence of polyps.
“Colorectal cancer awareness and screening is something we all must take seriously”, Dr. Avila said.
This year an estimated 135,000 people (including 8,370 New Yorkers) will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer and almost 50,000 (including 2,830 New Yorkers) will succumb to the disease.
Do you know the signs and symptoms of colon cancer?
For more information about colorectal cancer screening, please visit www.cancer.org/colon or contact the American Cancer Society at 800.227.2345.
Colon cancer is the second leading cancer killer in the United States for both men and women, but it’s also a cancer that can be prevented with screening. “Proper education and screening can save lives”.
“A 25 percent reduction in colorectal cancer means that each year 230 Kentuckians who would have developed colorectal cancer in the past no longer get the disease”, Tucker said.
◦ FOBT/ FIT – in home stool testing kits.
Make healthy choices. Eating a healthy diet low in processed meats and high in fiber, as well as exercising regularly, quitting smoking and maintaining a healthy weight, all are things you can do to help reduce your risk of getting colon cancer and many other types of cancer, too. Officials hope to see that number jump to 80 percent by 2018. If you think that a colonoscopy will be unpleasant, just talk to someone who had colon cancer.
Advertisement
The poll was conducted in honor of Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month and in response to a recent study in the journal Cancer Medicine that found that almost 15 percent of colorectal cancer patients are diagnosed before age 50.
