Today'' show co-host Katie Couric is spearheading a national public education campaign and advocating more aggressive research into colon cancer. Men and women without risk factors or symptoms should be tested when they reach 50, medical experts say. But a 1997 survey by the American Cancer Society found that 41 percent of people older than 50 had not had a colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy. You don't have to be embarrassed about anything. To a doctor, these are all things that are part of taking care of your patient,'' said Ted Gansler, MD, director of health content for the American Cancer Society.
Colon cancer strikes only older, white men.
An estimated 67,000 new cases of colon cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women this year, compared to 62,000 in men. Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, and actresses Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Montgomery, died from colon cancer. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and baseball players Darryl Strawberry and Eric Davis have undergone colon-cancer surgery. African-Americans and Hispanics are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced colon cancer because of their geographic isolation, cultural factors, and lack of access to healthcare services, such as cancer screenings. Screening for colon cancer is only necessary if you have symptoms.