However, Dr. Jay Goldstein, a University of Illinois at Chicago associate professor of medicine and a specialist in the UIC Medical Center's Digestive Disease and Liver Center , says that paying attention to the early warning signs of colon or rectal cancer could mean the difference between simple treatment that might help provide a better quality of life and radical medical procedures to stop the disease from spreading to other parts of the body. The UIC Medical Center will process all of the test kits and notify program participants of the results. It is only through early detection that colon cancer can be cured. Of course, most people will experience some kind of stomach pain or changes in bowel habits, such as diarrhea or constipation, from time to time. But, if these conditions persist for more than a few days or are accompanied by rectal bleeding or blood in the stool, they could be signs of cancer or other gastrointestinal disorders such as hemorrhoids, fissures, or diverticula disease.
Colorectal cancer affects men and women equally and has a mortality rate second only to lung cancer.
One method for detecting early colon cancer is testing stool samples for the presence of small amounts of blood using the Hemoccult II test kit, which will be distributed during the upcoming colorectal cancer screening program. Goldstein suggests that men and women, who are at least 50 years-old, follow the guidelines for an early detection program set by the American Cancer Society . The guidelines give men and women over 50 the option of having a colonoscopy every ten years or a double contrast barium enema every five to ten years. Most people will not test positive for cancer, Goldstein says. However, early detection is the best defense against colon or rectal cancer.