More than 1,300 organizations across\u00a0the nation have committed to substantially\u00a0reducing colorectal cancer as a major public\u00a0health problem for those aged 50 and older.\u00a0MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper is\u00a0among them, working toward the shared\u00a0goal of having 80 percent of adults aged\u00a050 and older being regularly screened for colorectal cancer by 2018.<\/p>\n
This \u201c80% by 2018\u201d initiative is\u00a0led by the National Colorectal Cancer\u00a0Roundtable (NCCRT), which was started\u00a0by the American Cancer Society and the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u00a0(CDC) in 1997. The NCCRT launched the awareness campaign in 2014.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re aiming to increase from about\u00a0a 35 percent screening rate to 80 percent,\u201d\u00a0says Steven R. Peikin, MD, FACG, AGAF,\u00a0Head of the Division of Gastroenterology\u00a0and Hepatology. \u201cIt\u2019s an ambitious goal,\u00a0but one that will save a significant number\u00a0of lives. Colorectal cancer is the number\u00a0two cause of cancer deaths in the United\u00a0States, with around 135,000 people\u00a0diagnosed every year, and about 57,000\u00a0dying from advanced disease.\u201d<\/p>\n
In New Jersey, more than\u00a04,000 people will be diagnosed\u00a0with colorectal cancer this\u00a0year, and over 1,420 will die from the disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when we screen\u00a0with colonoscopy and find\u00a0precancerous polyps, there\u2019s\u00a0a 100 percent chance of\u00a0preventing cancer having\u00a0developed in that polyp,\u201d\u00a0he continues. \u201cAnd there\u2019s a\u00a090 percent chance of a cure\u00a0when we find early cancer. Screening does save lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, research suggests\u00a0that if the United States can\u00a0achieve an 80 percent screening\u00a0rate by 2018, 277,000 cases\u00a0and 203,000 colorectal cancer\u00a0deaths would be prevented by\u00a02030.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, today, about\u00a0one in three adults between 50\u00a0and 75 years of age\u2014about 23\u00a0million Americans\u2014are not getting tested as recommended.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that men, in\u00a0particular, are less likely to\u00a0get screened,\u201d notes Cooper colorectal\u00a0surgeon Michael E. Kwiatt, MD. \u201cSo are\u00a0Hispanics and those with lower education\u00a0and income. So these populations are\u00a0certainly targets for this initiative, but so\u00a0are all adults between age 50 and 75.\u201d<\/p>\n
South Jersey community\u00a0leaders came together on\u00a0March 6, 2017 to announce\u00a0their commitment to implement changes within\u00a0their individual organizations\u00a0to increase colorectal cancer\u00a0screening in Camden and the\u00a0surrounding area, officially\u00a0kicking off the \u201c80% by 2018\u201d initiative in this region.<\/p>\n
Since then, MD Anderson\u00a0Cooper has been partnering with\u00a0local businesses to encourage\u00a0employees to undergo screening,\u00a0and physicians and nurses have\u00a0been participating in community\u00a0events to raise awareness.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith a team of a dozen\u00a0gastroenterologists here at\u00a0Cooper, we have significant\u00a0capacity to handle a high volume\u00a0of screening colonoscopies,\u201d\u00a0Dr. Peikin notes. \u201cIn addition,\u00a0we offer other screening options\u00a0including CT colonography\u00a0(virtual colonoscopy), barium\u00a0enema, FIT (fecal immunochemical\u00a0testing) to detect\u00a0occult blood in the stool, sigmoidoscopy, and DNA testing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drs. Peikin and Kwiatt agree that\u00a0primary care physicians play a crucial role in encouraging patients to get screened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re the ones on the frontlines\u00a0who know if their patients need screening and can make the referral,\u201d Dr. Peikin says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re confident this initiative will\u00a0have a huge impact on colorectal cancer,\u201d\u00a0he adds, \u201cand that this type of cancer will\u00a0no longer be the number two cause of\u00a0cancer death in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information about \u201c80% by 2018,\u201d please email Jordan Goldberger at Goldberger-Jordan@CooperHealth.edu or call 1.855.MDA.COOPER (1.855.632.2667).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
More than 1,300 organizations across\u00a0the nation have committed to substantially\u00a0reducing colorectal cancer as a major public\u00a0health problem for those aged 50 and older.\u00a0MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper is\u00a0among them, working toward the shared\u00a0goal of having 80 percent of adults aged\u00a050 and older being regularly screened for colorectal cancer by 2018. This \u201c80% by 2018\u201d … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-rmineo","4":"post-1748","6":"format-standard","7":"category-new-initiatives","8":"category-news-updates"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1748"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1749,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1748\/revisions\/1749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}