Colonoscopy is considered the “gold standard” for screening colorectal cancers. It is both diagnostic and therapeutic. It is used to identify and even remove precancerous colon polyps. In addition to colon cancer screening, it screens for other diseases of the large intestine and rectum.
Colon cancer is the second-most deadly of all cancers, killing more people (over 60,000) each year in the U.S. than either breast or prostate cancers. Yet colon cancer is also among the most preventable of all cancers... if it is found and treated early enough.
Sadly, too many patients put off colon cancer screening because they are afraid of the discomfort or what might be found. They don’t understand that, thanks to today’s anesthesia, there is no discomfort and we typically (over 90% of the time) find – and remove – only benign or precancerous colon polyps. Early removal of these colon polyps prevents cancer. Studies have shown that colonoscopy detects over 98% of colorectal tumors and removes them.
