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Colon Cancer: We Must Do Better
New screening approaches combine better risk assessment, use of non-invasive testing, and more targeted colonoscopy.
Today, we look at a proposed shift in how we screen for colorectal cancer in the United States. I’ll start with the problem’s scope before turning to newer approaches to screening for colon and rectal cancer. Colon and rectal cancer are common and too often deadly. Your chances of getting colorectal cancer are influenced by your genetics and by environmental factors.
Risk factors
Risk factors are things that increase your chances of getting a disease such as cancer. They can be changeable or fixed (think family history). Risk factors that may be modified include:
- unhealthy diet (some say watch the processed foods and red meat; I say that we have only observational studies; at least two randomized trials show no increase in risk; I try to keep my red meat consumption modest)
- smoking
- obesity
These three factors alone may account for a third to a half of the colorectal cancer burden. Other factors include physical activity and heavy alcohol consumption. If you consume alcohol, the American Cancer Society…
