From an interview with
Dr. Beatrice Buhuro
McLeod Primary Care Carolina Forest 1

Colorectal cancer almost always develops from precancerous polyps (abnormal growths) in the colon or rectum. Screening tests can find these precancerous polyps so they can be removed before they turn into cancer. Screening tests can also help physicians find colorectal cancer early, when treatment works best. McLeod Internist Dr. Beatrice Buhuro explains:

Colon cancer is basically a tumor in the colon, or you could also have it in the rectum, which, at which point, it would be colorectal cancer. Signs and symptoms of colon cancer include abdominal pain, most usually in the right lower belly, bloody stools, could be black or bright stools, weight loss, and also being iron deficient or having iron deficiency anemia in an older individual.

The current recommendations for screening for colon cancer from the American Cancer Society are age 45 and older. Previously, that was 50 and older; however, we’ve noticed an increase of colon cancer in younger individuals between the ages of 40 to 49, so we start at age 45, and that can go on until the age of 75.

When you go to your primary care physician’s office, you’re given several options for screening colon cancer. The two most common offered options are stool-based tests and direct visualization.

Stool tests require you to collect a stool sample, which is then sent to the lab to be tested for blood. If you do choose this method, you need to get this done every year.

A direct visualization test includes a colonoscopy, where a physician is able to directly visualize the colon, get biopsies done, or take polyps out. If a colonoscopy is normal, it can be done every 10 years. If there are any concerns or risk factors, it would need to be done every 3 to 5 years. These might include:

• Inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis
• A personal or family history of colorectal cancer or colorectal polyps
• A genetic syndrome such as familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) or hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (Lynch syndrome)

To learn more, speak with a primary care provider near you.