March Health News: It’s Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

Contact: Rachel Shubert
[email protected]
301-272-1603

Bethesda, MD (Feb. 22, 2017) — March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month — an important time to remind the public about how this deadly cancer can be prevented through screening.

Here are the facts:

• Among cancers that affect both men and women, colorectal cancer (cancer of the colon or rectum) is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S.¹
• Colorectal cancer is expected to cause about 50,260 deaths during 2017.²
• With routine colorectal cancer screening, more than one-third of colorectal cancer deaths can be avoided.³
• Colorectal cancer mostly starts with no symptoms at all, which is why routine screening beginning at age 50 for all normal-risk individuals is so important.⁴
• Patients should be aware of risk factors — such as family history or inflammatory bowel disease — in which case they should talk to their doctor about beginning screening sooner.⁵
• There are many tests available to get screened for colorectal cancer, all with varying levels of invasiveness and frequency. Patients should discuss the available options with their health-care provider to determine the test that will be best for them.⁶
• Along with getting tested regularly, a healthy lifestyle is recommended as the best way to lower one’s risk of colorectal cancer.⁷

Please contact [email protected] to speak with an AGA expert spokesperson for your upcoming Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month story.

AGA offers the following resources to help you explain colorectal cancer in lay terms:

• Colorectal cancer patient fact sheets (in both English and Spanish).
• Colorectal cancer informational videos for patients.

Follow AGA on social media to take part in our efforts to raise awareness of colorectal cancer this March:

• Twitter — AGA will be co-hosting an ABC News Twitter chat on Tuesday, March 7, at 1 p.m. ET to discuss colorectal cancer screening and prevention. Use the hashtag #ABCDrBChat. Follow AGA for updates on this chat and other Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month tweets.
• Facebook — throughout March, AGA will be running a “flashback” campaign to engage patients of the target CRC screening audience (50+) with a trip down memory lane, as well as a reminder on the importance of screening. Like our page for updates on this campaign.

References

¹https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/dcpc/resources/features/colorectalawareness/
²https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/about/key-statistics.html
³https://www.gastro.org/info_for_patients/colorectal-cancer-crc-101-what-is-colorectal-cancer
⁴https://www.gastro.org/info_for_patients/colorectal-cancer-crc-102-symptoms
⁵https://www.gastro.org/info_for_patients/colorectal-cancer-crc-103-risk-factors
⁶https://www.gastro.org/info_for_patients/colorectal-cancer-crc-104-getting-tested
⁷https://www.gastro.org/info_for_patients/colorectal-cancer-crc-105-prevention

About the AGA Institute 

The American Gastroenterological Association is the trusted voice of the GI community. Founded in 1897, the AGA has grown to more than 16,000 members from around the globe who are involved in all aspects of the science, practice and advancement of gastroenterology. The AGA Institute administers the practice, research and educational programs of the organization.www.gastro.org. 

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