Colorectal cancer awareness can raise the survival rates

Sam Simon, talented co-creator of television’s longest running series “The Simpsons” and compassionate animal rights activist, died earlier this week of colon cancer, ending an extraordinary life and an awesome career far too soon. He joins the ranks of other colorectal cancer patients ranging from Bee Gee Robin Gibb to former President Ronald Reagan to Pope John Paul II.

They are not alone. Every year, about 140,000 Americans are diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and more than 50,000 people die from it, making it the second most deadly cancer affecting both men and women, according to a 2014 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In our region, Mahoning County logs an average of 161 colorectal cancer cases per year, and Trumbull County reports about 145 annually, according to a five-year study by the National Cancer Institute. Unlike other places, however, the rate of colon cancer in the Mahoning Valley has remained relatively stable in recent years, not falling at a sufficiently brisk pace, NCI reports.

That finding underscores the importance of Colorectal Awareness Month, observed this month throughout the nation under the leadership of the American Cancer Society. The organization deserves communitywide support as it works overtime this month to get the word out as powerfully as possible on behaviors to prevent the disease, on the wisdom to seek early detection and treatment and on the necessity to continue fundraising for research to help further decrease death rates from the disease.

ABOUT COLORECTAL CANCER

Colorectal cancer, also known as colon cancer, rectal cancer or bowel cancer, is the development of cancer in parts of the large intestine due to the abnormal growth of cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body.

Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel movements, weight loss, and feeling tired all the time.

As with most cancers, the ACS reports that individuals can actively work to prevent the onset of the disease by avoiding some proven risk factors. For example, diets rich in red meat and processed meat increase colorectal cancer risks. Lack of daily exercise, a general lack of physical activity, obesity, long-term cigarette smoking and heavy use of alcohol all rise as proven danger signs for the onset of colorectal cancer.

In addition to altering lifestyles, early testing to detect the disease remains a powerful tool to block it. The ACS reports that 90 percent of those diagnosed with Stage I colon cancer survive to lead healthy, productive lives. That statistic alone powerfully refutes flimsy arguments by those who avoid such testing because they find the $5 test too inconvenient or too invasive. That $5 investment, after all, could buy years and decades of health for would-be victims.

As a result, during this month devoted to raising awareness of colorectal cancer, it also is important to support the many worthwhile endeavors of the cancer society and other groups toward its prevention. Events such as the National Wear Blue Day last Friday, the Cattle Baron’s Ball fundraiser for ACS at Antone’s Banquet Center on March 28 and the series of Relays for Life in the Valley that begin with the April 10 Youngstown Relay at Youngstown State University offer myriad opportunities to those who want to do their part to tame and ultimately kill the beast of colorectal cancer and all cancers that diminish the quantity and quality of life in our community and in our country.