Colon Cancer Screening Guidelines

If you’re over the age of 45, you need to have colon cancer screening. You can prevent colon cancer if growths in your colon known as polyps are found and removed in their early stages. Cynthia Yoshida, MD, and Andy Wolf, MD, discuss the importance of colon cancer screening and the many types of screening available through UVA Health.

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Cynthia Yoshida, MD: For most people who are over the age of 45, your primary care providers probably told you that you need to have colon cancer screening. When we're doing a colonoscopy, we rarely find colon cancer. We are usually looking for small growths or polyps that can grow in the colon. And if we can find a polyp when it's small and remove it, then we can prevent a person from developing colon cancer.

Andy Wolf, MD: One question arises is, why is colorectal cancer such a deadly cancer? For folks who aren't getting screened, we’re only finding the cancer after symptoms occur when the patient starts to bleed or develops abdominal pain.

Yoshida: So there's some polyps in the colon that are called hyperplastic polyps or some things that are called lymphoid follicles, which are just normal lymph tissue in the colon. And if you have those kinds of polyps, they are not precancerous, and you can have another colonoscopy in 10 years. If it turns out that you have some precancerous polyps, then you might have to adjust the timing of your repeat colonoscopy.

Wolf: If colon cancer is detected through screening, UVA also has a team of colorectal cancer specialists who can provide comprehensive care for the patients who are diagnosed with colon cancer.

Yoshida: I know a lot of people are really embarrassed about having a colonoscopy, and it's an invasive procedure. It's our goal at the University of Virginia to make sure that patients have a comfortable procedure and an excellent procedure.

Wolf: If they would rather have a stool-based test, we have the option of fecal immunochemical testing here, which is one of the best tests for colorectal cancer screening. We have the virtual colonoscopy here, the CT scan, and flexible sigmoidoscopy.

Yoshida: The most important message is that you have options, so please talk to your primary care physician about colorectal cancer screening tests and which one is right for you.