Colon cancer is one of the nation’s deadliest forms of the disease, but Cranston gastroenterologist Dr. Morris Elevado says it is also one of the most preventable as well.

March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month, and it certainly needs the attention. According to Dr. Elevado, colon or colorectal cancer is the fourth-most common cancer in the country. It is also the second-leading cause of cancer deaths behind lung cancer. However, with the right preventative measures, it can be nipped in the bud.

“People eligible for screening aren’t getting their screenings for a preventable disease,” Dr. Elevado said. “When you do a screening test, when you have pre-cancerous screenings, you may not have bleeding, or pain, or anorexia, and sometimes patients wait for symptoms to come along.”

According to a study this year from the American Cancer Society, 2017 will see nearly 100,000 new cases of colon cancer. The numbers are almost equal among men and women, with approximately 47,700 diagnoses for the former and 47,820 for the latter.

Dr. Elevado said that the most significant deterrent for screenings are their preparation. WebMD says the process can be rigorous, including light eating for 3-4 days and the use of laxatives to fully empty the colon for examination. Colonoscopies are recommended for adults starting at 50 and should be done every 10 years.

It’s no wonder that since the development of early colonoscopy testing in 1969 by Drs. William Wolff and Hiromi Shinya, the rate of both diagnosis and mortality have declined dramatically. According the ACS study, about 70 men per 100,000 got colon cancer in 1975, while today that number has fallen to 45. The mortality rate for men hovered around 30 in 1975, while for women it was 25. Today, those figures have fallen, respectively, to 20 and 15. Strides have been made to prevent colon cancer, and there have been other types of testing developed as well such as sigmoidoscopy and fecal occult blood testing.

The former examines the sigmoid colon, which is the portion closest to the rectum. Fecal occult blood testing involves taking a stool sample and its preparation is not as difficult as a colonoscopy. However, there is a litany of foods that shouldn’t be consumed prior to using the kit and there are conditions, such as hemorrhoids and colitis, during which the test should not be performed.

These are some of the more popular screenings, but the latest innovation in colon cancer detection could see diagnoses and mortality take a “more precipitous drop.”

Cologuard, which was approved by the FDA in 2014, is described as “an easy-to-use stool DNA test that can be used in the privacy of your own home.” The process is simple: Collect a stool sample and send the kit back to Cologuard’s lab.

Dr. Elevado hailed the innovative procedure, but urged people to get any of these screenings done to stave off colon cancer.

“[Cologuard] detects microscopic blood but [also] altered DNA, which I usually see in advanced polyps,” Dr. Elevado, who expects to see the results of Cologuard within years, said. “It’s less invasive and head and shoulders above the fecal test because it adds the component of DNA. It doesn’t matter which screening test you perform as long as you get one done. I am advocating any of those six tests.”

Rhode Island is ahead of the curve already in terms of patients heading out for screenings. The ACS study notes that the Ocean State is second in the country in terms of percentage of adults over 50 receiving screenings at 76 percent. The top five states (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut) are all in New England.

“I think [those figures] represent the primary care attitude toward colorectal screenings in this state,” Dr. Elevado said. “A lot of doctors not only demand their patients see a gastroenterologist, but refuse to see a patient until they get a screening performed.”

The average age for testing could start trending younger, too, after a February study by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute saw a slight increase in occurrences of colon cancer in people aged 20 to 39 years old.

“When I first started 15 years ago, patients were coming in at 60 or 70 for their first screening,” Dr. Elevado said. “In the past five years, patients come in at 50 to 55. That is a microcosm of the United States where patients, doctors and the community, because of Colon Cancer Awareness Month, literature and news, [colon cancer] is coming to the forefront of the prevention of cancer in general.”

For more information on Cologuard, visit www.cologuardtest.com. To read the ACS colon cancer study in full, it can be found at www.cancer.org.