Health Matters: Getting Screened for Colon Cancer

Physicians say the second most deadly cancer, colon cancer, is preventable

HEALTH MATTERS — Doctors are urging people to get checked for colon cancer during Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.

But what can you expect to go through when getting screened for the second most deadly cancer among US men and women?

Catching a pre-cancerous growth in your colon at age 50 can add up to 30 years to your life.

The physician we talked to said there is absolutely no harm in making an appointment.

When you schedule a colonoscopy, your doctor will require a “liquid only” diet the day before.

“I tell my patients the worst part is the prep,” said Dr. Kimberly Kolkhorst, a Gastroenterologist at Essentia Health.

What many people don’t realize is the test also doubles as a treatment that takes care of pre–cancerous growths in the colon.

“Colon cancer starts off as a polyp,” she explained. “A pre–cancerous polyp usually something called a tubular adenoma. If patients don’t have screening…colonoscopies, over time, that polyp starts to grow…continues to grow and turns into a cancer.”

Dr.Kolkhorst says men are 25 percent more likely to be diagnosed than women.

“Worst case scenario is when you find it and it’s already spread, which is called metastasis,” said Dr. Kolkhorst. “At that point, patients need chemotherapy.”

People who don’t have any family history of the cancer should get their first colonoscopy at age 50.

People who do have a history should get one 10 years earlier than the age their relative was diagnosed, or at age 40, whichever comes first.

“If you had a brother who had colon cancer at the age of 30, then you should start your colonoscopies at the age of 20,” said Dr. Kolkhorst.

She said she finds and removes polyps in about one in four patients and that preventative care offers patients the best case scenario with peace of mind.

“Colon cancer is entirely preventable. There are a lot of other cancers that you can’t prevent. This is one you can prevent,” said Dr. Kolkhorst. “That is why it’s so important you get your screening colonoscopies.”

It’s one day of your life, that could save your life.

Essentia Health estimates that colon cancer screening at their facilities in the last year alone may have prevented as many as 1,744 colon cancer deaths.

That’s 20,000 more years of life.