March:  National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month!

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For gastroenterologists, March is a particularly important month, having been officially designated by President Bush as National Colorectal Cancer Screening Awareness Month.  This designation was begun 6 years ago in the Clinton administration with the support of then First Lady, Hillary Clinton, and television personality Katie Couric.  Ms. Couric’s personal commitment was inspired by her husband, Jay Monahan, who struggled with colon cancer and died just a few years earlier.

Far from only affecting a select few, colorectal cancer is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer related death in the United States.  Despite the fact that it is easily preventable, it is estimated that approximately 148,610 new cases of colorectal cancer will be diagnosed in 2006 and 55,170 Americans will die of the disease.

Colorectal cancers tend to be slow growing, developing over many years from benign adenomatous polyps.  These precancerous polyps can be detected and removed during screening procedures, such as colonoscopy, thereby preventing the development of cancer.  It is this natural history of most colorectal cancers that makes the disease ideally suited to screening.

When colorectal cancer is found early and appropriately treated, survival is greatly enhanced, with a 5 year relative survival rate of 90%.  Unfortunately, less than 40% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed at an early stage.  Many people are embarrassed to talk about this disease or are concerned that testing is risky or painful, which it is not.  Some wait for symptoms to occur, not understanding that in its early and most treatable form, colorectal cancer has no symptoms.

National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month began when theCancer Research and Prevention Foundation, theAmerican Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, theFoundation for Digestive Health and Nutrition and theNational Colorectal Cancer Roundtable joined together to provide education about colorectal cancer to the American people. These founding partners have been joined by 54 collaborating partners to provide education about colorectal cancer year-round, with a focus on the annual awareness campaign that takes place each March.

Two symbols have become widespread in the fight against colon cancer.  The first arose in 2004, when the blue star symbol was introduced by the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable as a symbol of commitment to prevention, treatment and finding a cure for colorectal cancer.  Just as the red ribbon has come to symbolize AIDS and pink represents breast cancer, the blue star symbol signifies the fight against colon cancer and hope for those affected.  The second symbol is the “buddy bracelet” which is a blue bracelet similar to the yellow “Livestrong” bracelets for cancer survivors.  The buddy bracelet was originated by Mary Bakke, who was diagnosed with rectal cancer in 1999 at the age of 45.  This bracelet carries the words Preventable, Treatable and Beatable and is meant to be given to someone needing to be screened as a reminder.  Once that person is screened the bracelet is then passed on to someone else as a reminder and for encouragement.  Over 400,000 buddy bracelets have been distributed since its creation.

Stool testing for occult blood, flexible sigmoidoscopy and barium enema are all recognized as possible methods of screening, butcolonoscopy is the most used screening test in the United States today.  Not all colonoscopies are created equal, however and the procedure depends heavily on the skill of the physician performing the test.  According to the American College of Gastroenterology, in comparison to other physician types, gastroenterologists are more than five times less likely to miss colorectal cancer during colonoscopy compared to other physicians.  A Board Certified gastroenterologist has completed 3 years of internal medicine training after medical school, followed by an additional 2 to 3 years of subspecialty training focused exclusively on digestive diseases and endoscopy.  Most full-time gastroenterologists will do over 100 colonoscopies in a year--at Digestive Health Consultants of Northern California we average between 500 and over 800 per physician per year and experience pays off, with lower complication rates, comfortable procedures, and higher success rates.  Additionally, recent studies have concluded that a fully trained gastroenterologist is much more likely to adhere to the frequency for follow-up colonoscopy stated by national guidelines, and much less likely to bring patients back too soon for follow-up colonoscopies.

So this year be inspired by Colorectal Cancer Awareness month, make an investment in your health, see your gastroenterologist and get screened! 

Tune in to the Monday Medical Journal on radio station KSRO, 1350 AM here in Sonoma County, to hear our physicians speak on colorectal cancer screening during the month.  See our Calendar of Events for more information!

Dr. Faust, March 2006

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