March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

We are here for your screening tests to find precancerous polyps so that they can be removed before they turn into cancer. Screening tests can also find colorectal cancer early, when treatment works best. CT colonography, or virtual colonoscopy, is a completely safe diagnostic medical test using low-dose-radiation CT scanning to obtain images of the colon (the large intestine).

About Colorectal Cancer It is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death.

Colorectal cancer affects men and women equally and people of all races and nationalities.

Half of all new colorectal cancer diagnoses are in people 66 or younger.

The five-year relative survival rate for stage I and stage II colon cancer is 90%; the five-year survival rate for patients diagnosed at stage III is 71%, and stage IV is 14%.

Often, those who are diagnosed with colorectal cancer have experienced no signs or symptoms associated with the disease. There are many screening tests available, including some non-invasive, inexpensive tests that can be done in the privacy of your own home.

The National Colorectal Round Table estimates that if the 80% of the eligible population was screened at the age of 50, the number of colorectal cancer-related deaths could be cut by 230,000.

Screening has the potential to detect and even prevent colorectal cancer because polyps (precursors to cancer) can be removed during a colonoscopy screening.

Being screened at the recommended frequency increases the likelihood that when colorectal cancer is present, it will be detected at an earlier stage.

When colorectal cancer is detected in its early stages it is more likely to be cured, treatment is less extensive, and the recovery is much faster.* For CT colonography, sophisticated computer software combines the CT images to form a three-dimensional image of the colon.

The images are similar to what is seen during a conventional colonoscopy. All methods of screening for colon cancer require a cleansing program for the colon. With CT colonography, a camera is not pushed through the colon as with a conventional colonoscopy. The colon does not need to be filled with liquid barium as it does with a barium enema. So a CT colonography tends to be significantly faster and more comfortable for patients than other common screening methods.

Find out how we’re helping you at invisionsallyjobe.com.

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