Tag Archive for: Early Detection

Why Are Colon Cancer Cases in Young People on the Rise?

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Why Are Colon Cancer Cases in Young People on the Rise? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

Why are colon cancer cases rising among young people? Dr. Suneel Kamath delves into the risk factors, early symptoms of colon cancer, and the importance of consulting with your doctor.

Dr. Suneel Kamath is a medical oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center. Learn more about Dr. Kamath.

See More from DETECT Colon Cancer

Related Resources:

Research Advances in Colon Cancer Screening and Detection

Research Advances in Colon Cancer Screening and Detection

 What Are Colon Cancer Screening Guidelines?

What Are Colon Cancer Screening Guidelines?

 What Is the Role of Genetic Testing in Colon Cancer Care?

What Is the Role of Genetic Testing in Colon Cancer Care?

Transcript: 

Katherine:

Well, colon cancer cases in young people are on the rise. Do we know why this is happening?  

Dr. Kamath:  

Yeah, honestly, we really don’t to this point. We have a lot of hypotheses that we’re investigating to get to the bottom of that but it does seem like some of the usual risk factors for developing colon cancer later in life are still true. Obesity, sedentary lifestyle, a diet that’s high in red meat, processed foods. I do think to some extent the fact that we’re doing these things earlier and earlier in our lives. I think we’re seeing that the rates of obesity and overweight are not just increasing but they’re also occurring in people’s teenage years and in their 20s and 30s.  

It’s a time dependent process. I do think some people being at a higher than healthy body weight and leading a sedentary lifestyle starting at age 10 may lead to a cancer by age 30 or 40. I do think that’s part of it. But I do think there’s probably some other undescribed factor. We know plenty of people who come in who are runners and healthy, and honestly they’re healthier than I am to be honest with you and they still develop this for no reason. I am sure there’s some other exposure that we still need to identify.  

Katherine:  

What symptoms should young people be paying attention to?  

Dr. Kamath:  

It’s a great question. Fortunately, with early onset colorectal cancer, it’s much more likely to be on the left side of the colon, or closer to the exit, if you will. 

The good thing about that is the symptoms of it can be a little bit easier to detect. A lot of people describe to me that they have more blood in their stool. They found that they were straining harder than normal or having had a thinner stool caliber. I would also emphasize that these are often symptoms that go on for weeks and months at a time. All of us might eat the wrong thing for a day or two and get some stomach issues here or there so I don’t want people to overreact to every little symptom.  

Certainly, if you’re having constipation that’s going on for several weeks in a row, that’s often not going to be a benign thing. If you have that type of symptom and it’s persistent, definitely talk to your doctor and get it checked out.  

What Key Ways Is Early Detection of Stomach Cancer Delayed?

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What Key Ways Is Early Detection of Stomach Cancer Delayed? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

How is early detection of gastric cancer commonly delayed? Expert Dr. Joo Ha Hwang from Stanford Medicine discusses symptoms that patients may experience, whether some patients may be asymptomatic, risk factors, and proactive patient advice for early detection.

[ACT]IVATION Tip

“…each person should know what their risk for gastric cancer is, and we know the main risk factors are your ethnicity, especially your immigrant status. So if you’re a recent immigrant from a high incidence area, then you’re at risk. And then number two, have you had H. pylori infection? Again, if you’re a recent immigrant from an area that’s endemic with H. pylori, you should get tested for H. pylori. And number three, talk with your physician about your risk factors and determine whether or not you weren’t having endoscopic screening or surveillance, especially if you have any symptoms whatsoever.”

 

See More from [ACT]IVATED Gastric Cancer

Related Resources:

What Is the Role of Biomarker Testing in Stomach Cancer?

 What Are the GAPS Study Key Findings About Gastric Precancer?

 How Can Public Policy Measures Reduce Gastric Cancer in High-Risk Populations?

Transcript:

Lisa Hatfield:

Dr. Hwang, what are the key challenges in the early detection of gastric cancer, and how is your research addressing these challenges?

Dr. Joo Ha Hwang:

Well, the key challenge in detecting early gastric cancer is that there are no symptoms, or the symptoms are very generalized. You can have some vague abdominal pain, your appetite might change a little bit, but we don’t see symptoms until the later stages of gastric cancer when it’s no longer curable. So the real key challenge is to diagnose it at an early stage when it’s still curable and what we’re doing in terms of our research, and then the research community in general, is one, trying to identify patients who are at particularly high risk for developing gastric cancer.

And we have a pretty good idea on who that is. And it’s essentially recent immigrants from high-risk areas such as East Asia, Eastern Europe, Western, South America. There are populations where we know there’s a high incidence of gastric cancer. And in many of these locations, they do endoscopy for early gastric cancer. And so the key really is to identify who is at higher risk for developing gastric cancer and then having them undergo endoscopic screening to further determine what their risk factor is to develop gastric cancer. And then those who are at extremely high risk, they should be on what we call a surveillance program for that.

Lisa Hatfield:

Do you have an activation tip for people for that particular question?

Dr. Joo Ha Hwang:

Yeah. I would say a couple activation tips. I know we’re trying to stick to just a few key ones, but number one would be know your risk for gastric cancer. So each patient, each person should know what their risk for gastric cancer is, and we know the main risk factors are your ethnicity, especially your immigrant status. So if you’re a recent immigrant from a high incidence area, then you’re at risk. And then number two, have you had H. pylori infection?

Again, if you’re a recent immigrant from an area that’s endemic with H. pylori, you should get tested for H. pylori. And number three, talk with your physician about your risk factors and determine whether or not you weren’t having endoscopic screening or surveillance, especially if you have any symptoms whatsoever.

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How Can Prostate Cancer Screening Access Be Increased?

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How Can Prostate Cancer Screening Access Be Increased? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

How can access to prostate cancer screening be improved? Expert Dr. Ronald Chen from KU Medical Center discusses the importance of prostate cancer screening, methods that experts are using to increase awareness, and patient advice for optimizing health outcomes.

[ACTI]IVATION TIP

“…if you’re diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, always consider if a second opinion is right for you, a second opinion with a specialist who may have access to the latest treatments, technologies and clinical trials, and having that information before you to make a treatment decision can provide you with information, so you can make the best decision and have the best outcome for your cancer.”

Download Prostate Cancer Screening Tips Guide

See More from [ACT]IVATED Prostate Cancer

Related Resources:

Expert Perspective | Aggressive Prostate Cancer Research and Health Equity

Expert Perspective | Aggressive Prostate Cancer Research and Health Equity

 Understanding the Role of a Digital Rectal Exam in Prostate Cancer Care

Understanding the Role of a Digital Rectal Exam in Prostate Cancer Care

 Advanced Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials | Access and NRG-GU008 Trial

Advanced Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials | Access and NRG-GU008 Trial

Transcript:

Lisa Hatfield:

Are there any innovative approaches or technologies that you and your team are exploring to improve prostate cancer detection, treatment, or support services, especially for communities with limited access to healthcare resources?

Dr. Ronald Chen:

I think that access to screening is so important because screening, to be able to catch a cancer as early as possible allows the highest chance for cure and the best outcome for the patient. So what my team has been doing to try to increase access to screening is two-fold.

One is, we need to increase the awareness that screening is important. And unfortunately, in prostate cancer, there’s actually some controversy about whether prostate cancer screening is good or bad for the patient. There’s been some, I think, unfortunate national guidelines that recommend against screening and a lot of debate about whether screening is good or bad. I think it’s been unfortunate. It actually has led to some physicians and patients to really be doubtful about prostate cancer screening. I think we need to do a lot of education to actually reverse that misperception. And so one aspect is to educate, to make sure people do understand that prostate cancer screening, early detection is important.

So part of what my team is doing, not only really screening, but also all of prostate cancer and actually other cancers as well, is that my cancer center is doing a regular podcast. And so, what my cancer center director, Dr. Roy Jensen, on a weekly basis will interview a cancer expert and have a conversation about some cancer topic. It could be screening, it could be how to live a healthy lifestyle as a cancer patient, it could be about survivorship, it could be about a new technology to diagnose or treat cancer, a topic, a different topic every time recorded as a podcast with experts at my center and other places, and that podcast is freely available to anybody who wants to learn about different topics.

And I think that’s really great because I think knowledge gives patients power to make the right decisions. And so, our podcast, and actually we have some videos as well freely available through Facebook and other media channels, is one way to help us tackle this issue, and increase knowledge.

I think the other aspect of increasing screening is to have more opportunities for screening. And so, what my cancer center has been doing is we actually host three cancer screening events around our state, around Kansas, around Western Missouri, which is close to where we are, and we would just host screening events. It’s prostate cancer, it’s skin cancer, it’s lung cancer, it’s a colorectal cancer. The more we’re able to offer these free community events where people can come and just get cancer screened, the more access we provide and the more early detection we have for patients. I think those are pretty innovative strategies, free education, podcasts, and videos that anybody can access, hosting community events for screening. Sometimes we have it at local churches, sometimes we just have local hospitals to bring this to where people are. I think it’s pretty innovative, I think we make an impact there.

I think another really important thing is telehealth. I think patients from almost anywhere in the country, even if they live in rural areas, can have access to cancer experts and can have access to clinical trials because of telehealth. Telehealth, which is basically a consultation with a cancer specialist, either through phone or through video like Zoom, has really increased the access patients have anywhere to expert opinion, so they can make the right decision for their treatment and potentially have access to clinical trials. I think that’s really made a huge difference for patients as well.

And so, my activation tip for this question is, if you’re diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, always consider if a second opinion is right for you, a second opinion with a specialist who may have access to the latest treatments, technologies, and clinical trials, and having that information before you to make a treatment decision can provide you with information, so you can make the best decision and have the best outcome for your cancer.

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Early Detection of Melanoma

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This video was originally published by Aim At Melanoma on  November 4, 2014, here.

 

 

Tips to reduce your risk of developing melanoma:

Wear Sunscreen.

Make sunscreen a daily habit. UV radiation can still damage skin even in the winter and on cloudy days.

Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen (protects against UVA and UVB rays) with SPF of at least 30.

Wear Protective Clothing.

Protect your body with sun-protective clothing, hat, and sunglasses.

Avoid Peak Rays. Seek shade during the mid-day sun, when the sun’s rays are most intense.

Don’t Use Tanning Beds. Indoor tanning has been shown to increase the risk of melanoma by up to 75%. Melanoma is one of the top three cancers diagnosed in young adults (ages 25-29), and scientists attribute this trend to the use of tanning beds among this age group, particularly young women.

Protect Your Children. Just one bad sunburn in childhood or adolescence doubles your child’s chances of developing melanoma later in life.

Melanoma Risk Factors: People with the following traits are at higher risk for developing melanoma and other skin cancers:

Fair skin, red or blonde hair light eyes, more than 50 moles, history of sunburn or UV exposure, family history of skin cancer, and personal history of skin cancer.