In honor of cancer prevention month, we are featuring a new cancer prevention “short” each week. These short videos will focus on topics related to cancer prevention and screening.
Colon cancer is the third most common cancer in men and women in the western world. Because colon cancers develop from polyps, finding and removing polyps is an easy way to prevent the disease from developing. In this prevention short, Dr. Guerra discusses the options for colon cancer screening and their importance in preventing colon cancer.
About the presenter
Carmen E. Guerra, M.D., M.S.C.E., F.A.C.P., is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine and the Associate Chief of Staff and the Associate Director of the Office of Diversity and Outreach of the Abramson Cancer Center. Dr. Guerra general internist, epidemiologist and cancer control researcher. Dr. Guerra is a former Robert Wood Johnson Amos Faculty Development Program Fellow, a former Penn Fellow and the current President of the American Cancer Society, East Central Division. Dr. Guerra has conducted NIH, Robert Wood Johnson and American Cancer Society funded research focused on cancer screening and prevention. Under her roles at the Abramson Cancer Center, Dr. Guerra currently co-directs two patient navigation programs focused on breast and colorectal cancer screening which were designed to reduce access barriers to cancer screening tests at the University of Pennsylvania Health System by vulnerable populations.
I Just Had A Colonoscopy 2Days Ago And They Found 3 Large Palopes, The Largest 2.5cm. I’m Pretty Scared…. Could it Be Cancer ?
Hi Michelle – Hang in there. The goal of colonoscopy is to find these polyps and get them out. They could be polyps that cannot turn into cancer, polyps that could someday turn into cancer (adenomas) or polyps that really are cancer. But the good news is that finding them now means they can be removed and going forward the GI specialist can follow you more closely with colonoscopy more often if those polyps are adenomas. Try not to worry too much until you figure out what the biopsy finds and even then there is likely to be a treatment plan to get you through this. This article might be helpful too – https://www.oncolink.org/cancers/gastrointestinal/colon-cancer/risk-prevention-and-screening/all-about-colon-polyps