UK Screening Efforts Find Cancer Earlier

First results from the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program in the United Kingdom found significantly more colorectal cancers in early, curable stages than in the years before the program began.

Nearly half of the cancers found during screening were stage I (Dukes A), while previously only 1 in 10 were diagnosed at that earliest stage.

However, in another analysis of the pilot NHS NBCSP efforts, a significant percentage of patients who had cancer found on screening, believed to be without symptoms of colon or rectal cancer, recognized and reported symptoms when asked before their follow-up colonoscopies. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on April 9th, 2010
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Tags: colorectal cancer screening, colorectal cancer symptoms

Blacks Less Likely to Get Screening Follow-up

African Americans get more colorectal cancer than whites and die more often.

Whether this is because of different biology or lack of access to high-quality medical care has long been debated.

In a new study, blacks had very similar rates of polyps found during a screening flexible sigmoidoscopy.  But they were less likely to get a recommended follow-up colonoscopy.

While about 1 in 4 people had polyps discovered during their sigmoidoscopy, nearly identical percentages for blacks and whites, blacks got colonoscopy follow-up about 12 percent less often than whites. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on April 8th, 2010
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Tags: colorectal cancer screening, disparities

Peter Yarrow Sings the Colonoscopy Song

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.”

Posted by Kate Murphy on March 9th, 2010
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Tags: colonoscopy, colorectal cancer screening

Catch a Killer with CSI:NY’s Hill Harper

Catch a Killer: Get Screened for Colon Cancer reminds African Americans to be screened for colorectal cancer.

CSI:NY actor Hill Harper urges screening for colorectal cancer in a new PSA from the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE).

Guidelines suggest that those at average risk begin screening at age 50, however, some studies have shown that African-Americans are more frequently diagnosed with colon cancer at a younger age, leading some experts to suggest that African-Americans should begin screening at age 45.

Posted by Kate Murphy on March 4th, 2010
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Tags: colorectal cancer awareness, colorectal cancer screening, Hill Harper

Experts Recommend Changes for Colorectal Screening Access and Quality

The first priority of an expert panel looking at increasing the number of people being screened for colorectal cancer was to “Eliminate financial barriers to colorectal cancer screening and appropriate follow up.”

Meeting for two days in Washington in February, a National Institutes of Health State-of-the-Science conference considered what is known– and not known– about why people choose or avoid screening, how to improve screening quality, and what the healthcare capacity is to deliver colorectal cancer screening to the US population.

At the end of the meeting, the panel released a consensus statement with their recommendations for enhancing the use and quality of colorectal cancer screening. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on February 24th, 2010
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Tags: colonoscopy, colorectal cancer screening, FOBT