MARK LEWIS: Hi, my name is Dr. Mark Lewis. I'm a gastrointestinal oncologist. I'm the sort of doctor you never want to satisfy because in case you come into my office, it means you might have cancer, and in my office, meaning you might have colon cancer. Why is that this relevant? It's relevant because colon and rectal cancer are affecting younger and younger people. If you take a look at this, it doesn't mean it's definitely going to occur to you, but there are just a few things you must know.
First, age isn’t as protective as we once thought or hoped. It is entirely possible to get colon cancer under the age of 45, so how do when to fret? Well, your body higher than anyone else since you live in it 24/7, so in case you are experiencing recent onset abdominal pain and cramping, especially once you go to the lavatory, it could actually be worrying.
Blood within the stool often indicates hemorrhoids. But that's hard to assume, and so the barrier may be very low – I realize it's uncomfortable – to check with your GP and even ask for a rectal exam. There are also stool tests you may do at home, not only for blood, but in addition for precancerous DNA within the stool, that may really let you know whether you wish a colonoscopy now or whether you may watch it.
And finally, your loved ones history matters. It's about you and likewise the genes you've inherited. So in case you know that individuals in your loved ones have had colon cancer across the age of fifty, we might normally take about 10 years off that and begin screening you even sooner than your peers. So, to sum up, screening is ideally about protecting you, but diagnosis is about the issues you discover in your personal body, so the 2 can work together to present you one of the best possible final result. I wish you one of the best of health.
MARK LEWIS: Hi. My name is Dr. Mark Lewis. I'm a gastrointestinal oncologist. And I'm here to speak about some changing trends in colon cancer, and what they mean for patients, and the way patients can advocate for themselves. We're here at the largest cancer conference of the 12 months, and there are 4 abstracts or presentations that specifically address the changing trends in colon cancer.
One thing that should be said right firstly is that many individuals consider cancer normally as a disease of old age. Cells multiply and undergo cycle after cycle, in order that they usually tend to accumulate defects over time. And that is mostly true. Perhaps most worryingly, we will now not make that assumption about age and the likelihood of developing colon cancer, because all 4 studies have shown us, in their very own way, that things are getting into the correct direction for patients over 50, but within the incorrect direction for people under 50. I do know that's scary, and I don't need to create panic here. I need to let you know what you may do about it.
One of the things we discovered doing these studies was attempting to search for demographic cues. OK. It's one thing to say you're young, you're under 50, which is traditionally the age we screen for colon cancer. What are you able to do beyond that? I believe the group that's most in danger is women. So in case you take a look at the common age of all my patients in my practice, the common age of all my patients with GI cancer is 68. And yet one in seven of my patients is a young adult with colon cancer, and I actually see more women than men.
And what I see time and again – and this can be a hindsight bias on my part – is that they’ve problems. They have abdominal or pelvic pain. Sometimes they even have bleeding during bowel movements. And yet they’re told they’ve a gynecological problem.
I might say to young women particularly, please advocate for yourself. If you check with your doctor, say your GP or your gynecologist, and you might have an issue that seems out of proportion to what about your body and your cycle, then it must be investigated. I can't let you know how persistently I even have seen young adults with colon cancer – and that is my job – who’ve been told, quite dismissively, that it's just hemorrhoids. They're too young to have cancer. Unfortunately, that sentence now not carries any weight.
So what are you able to do? Well, to start with, as I said, you might be the expert on your personal body. You know what patterns are abnormal in you and may seek medical attention for them. Secondly, you must know your loved ones history. There is unquestionably a heredity component at play here.
And as a general rule, we take the youngest person in your loved ones affected by colon cancer or rectal cancer. We subtract no less than 10 years from their age. And we ask you to begin screening from that time. This is different from the advice for the overall population. You may know that lately we now have lowered the common age for risk screening from 50 to 45.
Now, at age 45, with none medical information or risk, you may go to your doctor and have a colonoscopy. Why is that this so effective? Colonoscopy is maybe the one cancer screening tool we now have that can also be preventive. For example, if a young woman starts getting mammograms at age 40, the mammogram can show her that there’s a problem, corresponding to a tumor forming within the breast. It doesn't really eliminate the issue. It just identifies it. Colonoscopy can do each.
A colonoscopist, often a gastroenterologist, sometimes a surgeon, very rarely a family doctor, can each see and take away a polyp. And by doing so, they interrupt the polyp's disease process. It cannot grow to be cancerous whether it is faraway from your body. So, to sum up: know yourself, know your loved ones, and know at what age you must start screening.