Colon Cancer Screening

Proper diet and exercise can go a long way toward helping maintain your colon health. By limiting red meat and sugar and increasing fiber-rich fruits and vegetables, you can greatly improve the odds of suffering colon cancer. Your doctor and/or Mercy Health dieticians can help you come up with a food strategy that helps prevent colon problems.

Our experts recommend colon cancer screening for you once you turn 50, or earlier if you have a higher risk.  The following conditions make your risk higher than average:

• A personal history of colorectal cancer or adenomatous polyps
• A personal history of ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease
• A strong family history of colorectal cancer or polyps

Several colon cancer screening options exist, including stool test you can do at home, or colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, or CT colonography at a doctor's office, clinic or hospital. Talk to your doctor about which test works best for you. All of the tests help find indications of colon cancer – and the earlier the detection, the easier to treat.

Services We Offer

• Colonoscopy, uses thin, flexible tube with a tiny camera to look for signs of ulcers, polyps and tumors in your large intestine, or colon. Doctors may remove tissue samples or abnormal growths for cancer testing.
• CT colonography, employs pictures from a CT scan to look at the colon.
• Flexible sigmoidoscopy, uses a lighted tube that can bend around the corners of the colon.
• High-sensitivity fecal occult blood test (FOBT), looks for blood in your stool at microscopic levels.