Colon Cancer Screening

It’s More Than Punctuation. Take Care of Your Colon and Get Screened!

Colorectal cancer is the number two cancer killer in the United States - but also one of the most preventable types of cancer. Most early colorectal cancers produce no symptoms, so it is important to get screened. Screening tests can find polyps so they can be removed before they turn into cancer.

More than 140,000 new cases of colorectal cancer are expected to be diagnosed this year. Colorectal cancer is most commonly diagnosed after age 50 (your risk increases with age).

Colon Cancer Risk Factors

• Personal history of colorectal cancer or colorectal polyps
• A strong family history of the disease
• Some inherited forms of colorectal polyps or cancer
• Chronic digestive conditions such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis

Colon Cancer Screening Guidelines

The American Cancer Society recommends:

• Adults age 45 and older with an average risk of colorectal cancer should undergo regular screening with either a high-sensitivity stool-based test or a structural (visual) exam, depending on patient preference and test availability. As a part of the screening process, all positive results on non-colonoscopy screening tests should be followed up with timely colonoscopy.

Test Options for Colorectal Screening

Stool-based tests

• Highly sensitive fecal immunochemical test (FIT) every year
• Highly sensitive guaiac-based fecal occult blood test (gFOBT) every year
• Multi-targeted stool DNA test (MT-sDNA) every 3 years

Visual (structural) exams of the colon and rectum

• Colonoscopy every 10 years
• CT colonography (virtual colonoscopy) every 5 years
• Flexible sigmoidoscopy (FSIG) every 5 years

Recommendations for how often a colonoscopy should be performed vary depending on your risk of developing this disease. Talk to your physician about setting an appropriate screening schedule.

The American College of Gastroenterology considers colonoscopy the “gold standard” for colorectal screening because it allows physicians to look directly at the entire colon and identify suspicious growths. It is the only test that allows a biopsy or removal of a polyp at the time it is identified.

The Center for Excellence in Digestive Health offers you the comfort of a hospital-based GI lab with extensive experience in this field.

The Center for Excellence in Digestive Health at Jupiter Medical Center is dedicated to the prevention, early detection and treatment of digestive disorders. We take a multidisciplinary approach to your care and offer a full range of services, including advanced diagnostics, endoscopic therapies and minimally-invasive surgical procedures.

Our team includes board certified gastroenterologists, general, colorectal and thoracic surgeons, interventional and diagnostic radiologists, and experienced endoscopy nurses and GI technicians.

Our goal is to improve your digestive health. You have a choice in where you receive your digestive healthcare. Choose a top-rated facility – choose Jupiter Medical Center’s Center for Excellence in Digestive Health.

To find a qualified physician, visit the Find a Physician section of the website.