The key to preventing colon cancer is catching it early, when it is more easily treatable. Screening tests can detect precancerous polyps, which can be benign or signs of early-stage cancer, which can be removed before they turn into more advanced cancer. Even if you don’t have any symptoms, regular screening is recommended for everyone starting at age 50 (or earlier if you have certain risk factors).
Screening tests for colon cancer include colonoscopy, stool tests, and virtual colonoscopy. These tests can detect precancerous polyps or early-stage cancer, allowing doctors to remove the polyps or treat the cancer before it has a chance to spread.
When colon cancer is detected early, the five-year survival rate is around 90%. However, when colon cancer is not detected until it has spread to other parts of the body, the five-year survival rate drops to around 14%.
In addition to saving lives, early detection of colon cancer through screening can also reduce healthcare costs. Treating early-stage colon cancer is generally less expensive and less invasive than treating advanced-stage cancer.
Talk with your doctor about when you should have colon screenings. If you are aged 45 to 75, you should be screened for colorectal cancer.
There are several screening tests available, depending on your level of risk:
- A stool-based fecal occult blood (FOBT) or fecal immunochemical test (FIT) every year
- A stool DNA test every 1 to 3 years
- Flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5 years or every 10 years with stool testing FIT done every year
- CT colonography (virtual colonoscopy) every 5 years
- Colonoscopy every 10 years
