For those who have been putting off a cancer screening due to concerns about COVID-19, these facts put the risks of doing so into perspective. Instead of waiting any longer, contact your health care provider to understand better the precautions they’re taking and ask what they’re doing to keep you safe.
Look for a facility that uses preventative temperature checks, has a mandatory mask policy, offers hand sanitizing stations, enforces social distancing where possible and sanitizes rooms between patient visits.
After finding an appropriate facility, don’t wait to schedule an appointment — any delay in catching cancer can give it time to spread and reduce the likelihood of survival. You may not be entirely able to prevent colorectal cancer, but you can certainly help to prevent its spread.
Story from
People with average risk should begin getting screenings at age 45.
Why it’s important to keep up colorectal
cancer screenings, especially now
Cancer doesn’t pause for a pandemic, and neither should preventive cancer screenings.
Unfortunately, it seems that many people have put colorectal screenings on hold, with colonoscopies taking a dip during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Dr. Angela Alistar, a gastrointestinal board-certified medical oncologist with Atlantic Health System, that decrease in screening can have dangerous consequences.
Here’s what’s important to know about why colorectal cancer and colonoscopy screenings are so important, according to the numbers:
Cancer hides. You owe it to yourself to do everything you can to find it before it’s too late.
To book a cancer screening today, visit atlantichealth.org/cancerhides.
Members of the editorial and news staff of the USA TODAY Network were not involved in the creation of this content
In addition to getting regular screenings, remember these other four preventative tips:
The number of new colon or rectal cancer cases reported in New Jersey in 2017 (the most recent year for which state-specific data is available)⁴
The colon cancer risk is
rising in young adults.
The number of predicted deaths that colorectal cancer will cause in 2021³
Nearly one in three Americans aged 50 to 75 said that they have never had a colorectal cancer screening²
The five-year survival rates for cancer caught early versus cancer that’s already spread.¹
The American Cancer Society recommends that at age 45, people of average risk should get their first screening — five years earlier than previous guidelines.
Colorectal cancers are the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths for men and women alike.
¹ https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/detection-diagnosis-staging/survival-rates.html
² https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2013/p1105-colorectal-cancer-screening.html#:~:text=About%20one%20in%20three%20adults,for%20Disease%20Control%20and%20Prevention.
³ https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/about/key-statistics.html#:~:text=Excluding%20skin%20cancers%2C%20colorectal%20cancer,women%20in%20the%20United%20States.
⁴ https://gis.cdc.gov/Cancer/USCS/DataViz.html
Members of the editorial and news staff of the USA TODAY Network were not involved in the creation of this content
Cancer doesn’t pause for a pandemic, and neither should preventive cancer screenings.
Unfortunately, it seems that many people have put colorectal screenings on hold, with colonoscopies taking a dip during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Dr. Angela Alistar, a gastrointestinal board-certified medical oncologist with Atlantic Hematology Oncology, that decrease in screening can have dangerous consequences.
Here’s what’s important to know about why colorectal cancer and colonoscopy screenings are so important, according to the numbers:
Why it’s important to keep up colorectal cancer screenings, especially now
People with average risk should begin getting screenings at age 45.
Story from
Colorectal cancers are the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths for men and women alike.
The American Cancer Society recommends that at age 45, people of average risk should get their first screening — five years earlier than previous guidelines.
Colorectal cancers are the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths for men and women alike.¹
Nearly one in three Americans aged 50 to 75 said that they have never had a colorectal cancer screening ²
The number of predicted deaths that colorectal cancer will cause in 2021³
The number of new colon or rectal cancer cases reported in New Jersey in 2017 (the most recent year for which state-specific data is available)⁴
The colon cancer risk is rising in young adults.
In addition to getting regular screenings, remember these other four preventative tips: eat a healthy diet, stay physically active, avoid smoking and avoid excessive drinking. A Mediterranean diet is proven to have a protective benefit against colon cancer.
For those who have been putting off a cancer screening due to concerns about COVID-19, these facts put the risks of doing so into perspective. Instead of waiting any longer, contact your health care provider to understand better the precautions they’re taking and ask what they’re doing to keep you safe.
Look for a facility that uses preventative temperature checks, has a mandatory mask policy, offers hand sanitizing stations, enforces social distancing where possible and sanitizes rooms between patient visits.
After finding an appropriate facility, don’t wait to schedule an appointment — any delay in catching cancer can give it time to spread and reduce the likelihood of survival. You may not be entirely able to prevent colorectal cancer, but you can certainly help to prevent its spread.
¹ https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/detection-diagnosis-staging/survival-rates.html
² https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2013/
p1105-colorectal-cancer-screening.html#:~:
text=About%20one%20in%20three%20adults,for
%20Disease%20Control%20and%20
Prevention.
³ https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/about/key-statistics.html#:~:text=
Excluding%20skin%20cancers%2C%20colorectal
%20cancer,women%20in%20the%20United%20States.
⁴ https://gis.cdc.gov/Cancer/USCS/DataViz.html
Cancer hides. You owe it to yourself
to do everything you can to find it before it’s too late.
To book a cancer screening today, visit atlantichealth.org/cancerhides.
Eat a healthy diet
Stay physically active
Avoid smoking
Avoid excessive drinking
A Mediterranean diet is proven to have a protective benefit against colon cancer.
