Colon Cancer

If You Are 50 Or Older, A Colonoscopy Can Save Your Life

According to the American Cancer Society, 150,000 Americans will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer each year, and over one-third of them will die from it. Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men and women, killing more people than breast and prostate cancer combined.

Colon cancer is an equal opportunity disease

The good news is that colon cancer is 95% curable when it is detected and treated at its early stages, before any physical symptoms develop. This is why doctors advise that everyone over the age of 50 (or earlier if there is a family history of colon cancer or polyps, or if diagnosed with colitis) to undergo a careful screening of their large intestine (colon).

Colon cancer is preventable with early diagnosis

All colorectal cancers originate from benign growths in the colon called polyps. The goal is to remove them before they have a chance to grow into cancerous polyps. A screening colonoscopy is a test that examines the large intestine where pre-cancerous polyps are then identified and removed. It is considered the most reliable and effective way to prevent and cure colon cancer, than even the barium enema or the newer virtual colonoscopy (CAT scan of the colon).

The Board Certified physicians at the Center for Digestive Diseases, P.A. specialize in screening colonoscopies, as well as all other gastrointestinal problems. We have two on-site outpatient ambulatory surgical centers, the Endo-Surgi Center at Union and the Endo-Surgi Center of Old Bridge. Both provide safe, comfortable, and convenient outpatient gastrointestinal procedures.

Screening colonoscopies are approved by Medicare and many other insurance companies for patients over the age of 50.