Health & Medicine
Colon Cancer. Prevent it. Treat it. Beat it.
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By Sandra Hoogerwerf, MD, Borland-Groover Clinic
pecialists at the Borland-Groover Clinic know that screening for colorectal cancer saves lives. “Everyone has a five percent chance of developing colon cancer, but if there is a family history then the risk is two to three times higher,” says Sandra Hoogerwerf, M.D., a gastroenterologist with BorlandGroover Clinic. Colon cancer is 90 percent curable if detected early. It’s one of the most prevalent cancers in the United States and is the second most common cause of cancer deaths among men and women. Both genders are affected nearly equally and the key risk factor is age, with risks increasing after
the age of 50. If a family history is present, Borland-Groover Clinic recommends to be screened ten years earlier than the age of the family member at diagnosis. Patients with colon cancer most often have no symptoms, though symptoms can include a change in stool size or habits, rectal bleeding and abdominal pain. “We want to get to people before these symptoms occur,” said William Foody, M.D., a gastroenterologist at Borland-Groover clinic. While age 50 is recognized as the age to add a colonoscopy screening to your medical check-up, colon cancer can present itself at any age. Screening is essential, yet misconceptions remain about who should be screened and what the screening process involves. If you have a family or a personal history of polyps, colon cancer, inflammatory bowels, Crohn’s disease or irritable bowel syndrome, then you should be screened more often, Dr. Foody adds. Other risk factors for colon cancer include obesity, consumption of more than four to five alcoholic drinks per week and smoking. Physical activity also plays a part. “Just increasing exercise and activity to a moderate level can decrease your risk for colon cancer by as much as 50 percent,” says Dr. Hoogerwerf. According to the physicians and staff at the Borland-Groover Clinic, colon
cancer screening has never been easier. Physicians are able to see a patient, and in a single visit, remove all signs of polyps and offer a diagnosis within 24 hours of the procedure. Since screenings have become much easier, the death rate from colorectal cancer has significantly dropped in both men and women. As a result, there are now more than 1 million survivors of colorectal cancer in the United States. While the colonoscopy is a fairly routine procedure, it is the prep that concerns most people although it only consists of consuming a fairly strong laxative the day before the procedure. The cleaner the colon, the easier it is to examine it for polyps. The colonoscopy itself is a comfortable and safe test - the patient is sedated and mostly unaware of the procedure, lasting only about 15 to 30 minutes. Most polyps can be removed during the colonoscopy. In some cases, a non-surgical technique called Endoscopic Mucosal Resection (EMR) can be used to remove polyps that are larger than two centimeters with almost no upper limit as long as there is not deeply invasive cancer present. “No one likes to talk about colon cancer, but I am willing to talk about it if it will help others,” said colorectal cancer survivor and patient of the Borland-Groover Clinic, Jan Pratt. Pratt was diagnosed in 2002 with
stage three colorectal cancer at 35. Pratt’s family history with the disease, and persistent stomach issues caused her to receive a lifesaving screening that led to her diagnosis. As a result of her experience, Pratt became active with the Colorectal Cancer Coalition, traveling to Washington D.C., to lobby for legislation making colorectal cancer screening easier to access and covered by insurance. Now, luckily for patients, most insurance companies cover up to 100 percent of costs for colonoscopy screenings. “We promote awareness in March, Colon Cancer Awareness Month, and throughout the year in an effort to encourage people, all the way up to the state legislature, to get the people screened who need to be screened,” said Dr. Hoogerwerf. Getting screened is the first step to prevent colon cancer. As the leading educators on issues of colon cancer prevention and screening in Northeast Florida, BorlandGroover Clinic has been thinking globally and acting locally. Through education and prevention messages, the physicians and staff, along with local cancer survivors, are making it a personal mission to help make colorectal cancer issues a top priority on a local and national level. “One simple screening is worth a day of your life,” says Dr. Hoogerwerf.
Dr Sandra Hoogerwerf graduated Cum Laude with a Doctorate of Medicine from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She subsequently completed her internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland, and her clinical gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Texas Medical Brach in Galveston, Texas. In addition, she completed a gastroenterological research fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Before joining Borland-Groover Clinic in 2010, she served as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dr. Hoogerwerf has a longstanding interest in women’s health issues, functional bowel and motility disorders. She has published on a variety of topics including the management of gastrointestinal disease in pregnancy, acid suppressive therapy and reflux disease, irritable bowel syndrome and motility disorders such as achalasia.
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