TAMPA, Fla. — The American Cancer Society just released updates on colorectal cancer screening.
Tampa Bay 28’s Lauren St. Germain covers medical news, and she is committed to keeping you informed about new guidance, innovation, and treatments.
According to the American Cancer Society, average-risk adults should start colon cancer screening at the age of 45 and continue through age 75.
There are now more ways to get tested. The guidelines now include a blood-based test at the doctor’s office, as well as one updated and one new at-home test that look for blood and molecular markers in stool samples.
St. Germain spoke with Dr. Luv Hijirawala, a Colorectal Surgeon at AdventHealth. Dr. Hijirawala explained he still considers a colonoscopy the gold standard for screening.
“Once we get these tests – if these tests are positive, whether it’s a blood-based test or a stool-based test, the next step is a colonoscopy. From a colorectal surgeon’s standpoint, we do recommend getting a colonoscopy for everybody who is at an acceptable risk, but for those people who are really apprehensive or not healthy enough to get a colonoscopy, I think these are great adjuncts. Any screening is better than no screening, so if these are the tests that we are going to use to screen people, the more screening we do is better,” said Dr. Hijirawala.
Dr. Hijirawala’s main takeaway is that if you are at the screening age, get screened, and if you are below the screening age, know your body.
“There are certain symptoms that you have to look out for. Any bleeding from your rectum is an alarm symptom, persistent pain, changes in bowel habits, weight loss, all of those things we should be being mindful of and also reach out to a physician if those things are happening,” said Dr. Hijirawala.
Click here for the American Cancer Society guidelines.
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