Griffin Reports High Colon Cancer Rate
By Matthew Higbee, Connecticut Post, Bridgeport
May 1–DERBY — The number of deaths by colon cancer in the Valley is significantly higher than the state average, a troubling statistic that local health officials say is directly related to a below-average number of colon cancer screenings.
“Colon cancer is one of the most preventable and treatable forms of cancer there is,” said Griffin Hospital Vice President Bill Powanda. “There is a direct correlation between early identification and the survival rate.”
Colon cancer and screening statistics distributed Monday by the Griffin Hospital Cancer Committee used data from the state Department of Public Health and the Connecticut Hospital Association.
From 1995 to 2003, the mortality rates for colon cancer in the combined municipalities of Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Derby, Oxford, Seymour and Shelton were 28 percent higher than the state average.
At the same time, Griffin Hospital officials estimated that 9.6 percent of Valley 50-year-olds and only 7 percent of all Valley 50- to 54-year-olds received a colonoscopy in 2006. Nationwide, more than 30 percent of Americans have had a colon cancer screening.
“The data is compelling,” said Dr. Jeffrey Orell, chairman of the Griffin Hospital Cancer Committee. “At the minimum, our goal should be to increase the number of residents who have colon cancer screening exams to the national rate.”
A colonoscopy is the screening that can detect problems or diseases at a stage where they can be treated or cured. The American Cancer Society and the American Gastrointestinal Association recommend cancer screening for all men and women over the age of 50. The association recommends that African-American men and women begin colonoscopies at age 45.
The five-year survival rate of colon cancer is 100 percent if diagnosed in its earliest stage, but drops precipitously when diagnosed at the late stages. At stage three or four, the five-year survival rate drops to 54 percent. At stage four, the five-year survival rate is only 8 percent.
From 2000 to 2004, half of all Griffin patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer were already at stages three and four.
Dr. Sidney Bogardus, a Griffin Hospital gastroenterologist and Yale Medical School professor, said that studies were starting to show a national drop in colon cancer deaths because of a rise in regular screening.
“To me, it’s a shame to diagnose colon cancer when you know it was preventable in the first place,” Bogardus said. “For a day’s worth of inconvenience, you can cross colon cancer off the list of one of the things you have to worry about.”
Community residents age 50 and older who have not had a colonoscopy or who have not had one in 10 years should call their primary care physician and request that an exam be scheduled.
Residents can also call the Griffin Hospital Digestive Disorder Center at 732-7423.
Matthew Higbee, who covers the Naugatuck Valley, can be reached at 736-5440.
—–
Copyright (c) 2007, Connecticut Post, Bridgeport
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.