- Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cancer killer in the United States, claiming the lives of close to 60,000 Americans each year.

- A majority of colorectal cancers could be prevented if precancerous polyps are detected through screening and then removed. And when colorectal cancer is diagnosed early through screening, greater than 90% of the cases can be cured.

I am not a researcher, but it stands to reason that if more people would get screened for colorectal cancer, fewer people would die from the disease. Larson and colleagues seem to mix apples and oranges, if you will, in this purported study discussing different types of cancer. The implication that screening for colorectal cancer is not beneficial for the American people is downright baffling.

One encouraging statistic in this report was that 37% of people 50 and older surveyed who had “seen or heard celebrities . . . talk about getting a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy” said it made them more likely to undergo one of these screening tests for colorectal cancer. For many of us who have worked to increase colorectal cancer screening rates, that news was cause for celebration. We were mystified, then, by the authors’ conclusion that they “see no obvious role for celebrity endorsement of cancer screening.” With regard to colorectal cancer screening, this conclusion was completely unsupported by the results reported in the article.

There is no question about the established medical guidelines for colorectal cancer screening which are, in short, that people 50 or over should be screened. Yet 60 percent of adults aged 50 or older have not been screened at all or as recently as they should be according to the guidelines. Logic dictates that more needs to be done to increase screening awareness and utilization rates to prevent or cure this deadly disease.

That some of the media coverage on the study as it relates to colon cancer focused on these odd, unsubstantiated conclusions without even mentioning the 37% was disheartening. The fact that screening rates have improved since Katie Couric and other celebrities started pulling this topic out of an almost taboo realm and into polite conversation is well documented (Archives of Internal Medicine, July 14, 2003; 163:1601-1605). That is presumably why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently launched an awareness campaign featuring celebrities asking Americans who are 50 or older to “talk to your doctor and get screened.”

Generally speaking, one has to confer with a healthcare professional in order to arrange to have a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy. So while it is useful to reiterate how important it is for patients to ask their doctors about both the pros and cons of testing, it’s not likely that many of these procedures are taking place without such a conversation.

I run the entertainment industry’s collective philanthropy, the organization with which Katie Couric established the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance after losing her husband to this disease. We have received many letters and emails from people who believe that getting tested -- after seeing a celebrity endorsement of colorectal cancer screening -- saved their lives. To me, this is the best evidence of the value and effectiveness of such campaigns.

Lisa Paulsen

President and CEO

Entertainment Industry Foundation

© 2005 HealthNewsDigest.com