The Rise of Colorectal Cancer and the Need for Screening
Doug Dallmann was in his early thirties when he first noticed blood in his stool.
“But, since it only happened occasionally and didn’t cause any pain, I didn’t give it much thought and never brought it up with my doctor,” in a personal account of his experience.
Then he started feeling sharp pains in his pelvis and knew something was seriously wrong. At his annual physical, it didn’t take long for his doctor to find the tumor. At just 40 years old, he was diagnosed with stage 3 rectal cancer. In an article released by Nature entitled “The Colorectal Cancer Epidemic: Challenges and Opportunities for Prevention,” a heavy emphasis is placed on prevention methods in catching the early stages of colon cancer symptoms through screening.
What is Colon Cancer? How Do I Know if I Have it?
Colon cancer can be formed by polyps in the colon or rectum that turn into cancer. Screening can be done as a preventative measure to help find and remove polyps at an early stage. In 2020, there were an estimated 104,610 new cases of colon cancer and 43,340 cases of rectal cancer diagnosed in the US, according to a report developed by the American Cancer Society.
Men and women over the age of 55 without a prior colonoscopy are at a higher risk of colorectal cancer.
Some other risk factors can include having:
- Inflammatory bowel disease including Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative colitis
- A family history of colorectal cancer
- Obesity
- Tobacco and alcohol use
- Poor diet and limited physical activity
Participate in Colon Cancer Screening Research Study Near You
BTC New Bedford has a continued dedication to BLUE-C. As you are aware, it is extremely important to complete this study so that we may meet the goals for our targeted study parameters. We’re closing our study in the month of September, and although the study enrollment is going well, we’re looking to continue enrolling people for the rest of the month.
Therefore, the study will continue to be open only to individuals 55 and older with no prior colonoscopy history. Current study data show that the highest prevalence of CRC is in this portion of the eligible population. Exact Sciences’ goal is to help get more people screened for CRC through development of the next generation of Cologuard. Individuals 55 and older without a prior colonoscopy may be at a higher risk of CRC. Targeting enrollment in this population will help achieve the study goals faster and support validation of the next generation of Cologuard. Moving forward, you are asked and will be expected to enroll subjects who meet the parameters of being 55 and older with no prior colonoscopy history. However, subjects who have had a colonoscopy more than 9 years ago but are already scheduled to enroll may still participate.
You may be eligible to participate if you:
- Are 55 years of age or older
- Have never had a colonoscopy
If you are eligible, and you agree to participate in a study, you will be asked to attend an initial visit to BTC of New Bedford. As part of study participation, you will complete a demographic and medical questionnaire. You will be compensated up to $575 for your participation in the study.
Please click on the link Sign Up Here if you are interested in participating.
If you have friends or family who may be interested in participating in the study as well, please forward this email to them to complete the questions in the link above. You can also text “Detect19” to “855-952-1850” to learn more.
If you have any questions or would like to contact someone directly, please call 508-990-9555 and select option 1.