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All Colon Cancer Alerts

10 Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Your Colon Cancer Diagnosis

A colon cancer patient asks, “My doctor just told me that I have colon cancer and will need to undergo colon cancer surgery. Should I get a second opinion?” Here’s the answer to this important question, plus answers to 10 other key questions you should ask your doctor after a diagnosis of colon cancer. More...

Colonoscopy Prep Advice

Before you have a colonoscopy, it's essential to get your colon completely clean. But a recent study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Volume 7, page 670) finds that standard bowel preparation doesn't work as well in people who are overweight. This is a concern because any residue in the colon can mask polyps and cancers during colonoscopy. More...

Do Colon Polyps Always Lead to Colon Cancer?

A reader of our Colon Cancer Special Report asks: If a person has polyps, what are the chances that cancer will develop? Because this question is important to all of us, we want to share the information in this Health Alert. More...

Preventing Colorectal Cancer Recurrence with Aspirin Therapy: Yea or Nay?

Currently, the only known way to prevent colorectal cancer is to have regular colonoscopies to detect and remove precancerous polyps. It's also been shown that quitting smoking, eating a healthy diet and avoiding excess weight gain can reduce your risk of developing colorectal cancer. More...

Many Reasons for Optimism in the Fight Against Colorectal Cancer

Colon cancer screening did not appear often in the news before the year 2000, when television personality Katie Couric had a colonoscopy that was broadcast on national television. Couric's husband, Jay Monahan, had died of advanced colon cancer two years earlier, at the age of 42. More...

Follow-Up After Colorectal Surgery: What to Expect

More than a million people living today in the United States have had colon cancer, and that number is expected to increase as detection and treatments improve. Most of these individuals call themselves survivors -- not a medical term, but one that people with cancer have chosen to describe someone who has overcome a crisis or challenge. More...

Interpreting the Signs and Symptoms of Colorectal Cancer

In this excerpt from our Special Report, Colon Cancer: Prevention, Early Detection and Treatment, Dr. Ross C. Donehower, Director of the Division of Medical Oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, answers questions on diagnosing colorectal cancer. More...

The Virtues of Virtual Colonoscopy

Virtual colonoscopy, also known as computerized tomographic (CT) colonography uses computed tomography (CT) to construct three-dimensional images of the colon and rectum. The test is noninvasive, as the images are taken from outside, not inside, the body. Virtual colonoscopy is performed in the radiology department of a hospital or medical center. As you lie on your back, a thin tube is inserted into your rectum. Air is pumped through the tube to inflate the colon… More...

Signs and Symptoms of Colorectal Cancer

When something goes wrong with the digestive system, it usually makes itself known pretty quickly, through pain or discomfort. Common problems are upset stomach, constipation, and diarrhea, which are usually not serious and don’t last long. More...

Can Dietary Fiber Reduce Your Risk of Colorectal Cancer? Here’s the Research

The issue of whether dietary fiber can help prevent colorectal cancer has always been unclear, as studies have reached inconsistent results. Now a study from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (Volume 102, page 614 ) suggests that the type of dietary assessment tools used in these studies might be to blame. … More...

Laparoscopic or Open Surgery for Colon Cancer: What’s the Best Choice for You?

The first published reports of laparoscopic-assisted surgery for colon cancer – a minimally invasive procedure -- suggested that it resulted in a faster recovery time and fewer surgical complications than open surgery. As a result, interest in laparoscopic-assisted surgery grew. More...

FICE – A New Imaging Tool

Colonoscopy is considered the gold standard for finding and removing – and possibly preventing – colorectal cancer. It can detect up to 95% of colon cancers and can be used to remove precancerous polyps before they develop into cancer. Today researchers are working to make colonoscopy an even better screening tool. One new imaging system in development is the Fuji Intelligent Chromo Endoscopy (FICE). More...

Mixed Results on Narrow-Band Imaging

A standard colonoscope uses a regular white light to illuminate the colon. Narrow-band imaging uses an optical filter to produce blue light, which provides more contrast between the polyp and the colon lining. At the push of a button, a colonoscope with narrow-band imaging capabilities can switch between white light and blue light. Blue light has a narrower wavelength, which is why the device is called "narrowband" imaging. More...

In the Pipeline: Preventive Immunotherapy for Colorectal Cancer

Your immune system serves as the front line in your body's defense against illness. Its job is to detect foreign intruders, like bacteria or viruses, and to then manufacture the antibodies necessary to destroy them. And it does this quite well -- except when the intruder is cancer. More...

Finding Polyps With the Retroscope

Did you know that the gold standard of colorectal cancer screening -- a colonoscopy -- can miss up to one quarter of polyps? This situation has spurred researchers to develop new tools that enhance a doctor's ability to detect and remove polyps that could become cancerous. One new tool is the retroscope. More...

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