Annual colonoscopies for people with Lynch syndrome (HNPCC or hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer) successfully find cancers at an early stage.

A recent study by the German HNPCC Consortium confirmed the effectiveness of annual colonoscopies to find colorectal cancers at a curable stage.  Regular colonoscopies found early cancers more often than did patient symptoms.

Current recommendations are for surveillance colonoscopies to begin by age 25, be repeated every 1 to 2 years until age 40, and then annually.

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Harry Smith’s Early Show colonoscopy is being replayed on CBS.com.

You can watch Harry and Katie Couric the day before the test discuss the prep and talk about saving lives by finding polyps. This morning, Katie is in the procedure room with Harry and the medical staff.

Dr. Mark Pochapin demonstrates how the colonoscope works to view the colon, snare polyps if they are found, and remove them.

As Dr. Pochapin withdraws the scope, Harry is awake but comfortable, talking and asking questions.  Dr. Pochapin explains what he is seeing on the video monitor in Harry’s colon.

Afterwards, Harry said, “Piece of cake!  You have a tremendous peace of mind.”

Katie says, “Do it for the people you love.”

Click on Peter's face to hear the song.

Listen to folk singer Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul & Mary, sing the Colonoscopy Song.

Yarrow and CBS teamed up to deliver the message that getting a regular colonoscopy saves lives.

Although they “found a polyp hiding, they caught it just in time.”

In the month of March we celebrate Colon Cancer Awareness.

Colon cancer is one of the few cancers we can prevent successfully with colonoscopy, better than breast cancer or any other cancer with the exception of cervical cancer.

It takes usually about 5-10 years to develop colon cancer, which gives us a great window of opportunity to screen. We know that usually we see polyps first, which can develop into cancer, but that normally takes years. With screening we can see polyps and remove them before they develop into cancer. Read the rest of this entry »

After a negative colonoscopy, there is a significantly reduced risk of developing colorectal cancer if the exam was done by a gastroenterologist. Read the rest of this entry »