Importance of Colon Cancer Screening
Dr. Kumaravel Perumalsamy discusses the risk factors of colorectal cancer and the importance of prevention through screening.
Featured Speaker:
Kumaravel Perumalsamy, MD
Kumaravel Perumalsamy, MD works in Palmdale, CA and specializes in Gastroenterology and Internal Medicine. Transcription:
Importance of Colon Cancer Screening
Melanie Cole (Host): According to the CDC, Colorectal Cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in the United States, however, there are tests that can actually prevent or detect it at its earliest stages and we’re talking to day about colon cancer screening. My guest today is Dr. Kumaravel Perumalsamy and he’s a gastroenterologist and Chief of Medicine at Palmdale Regional Medical Center. Doctor, let’s start with just a little bit of the prevalence of colon cancer. Are you seeing more awareness? Are you seeing more colon cancer?
Dr. Kumaravel Perumalsamy (Guest): Yes. The colon cancer is the second most common cancer in mean and women and also second common cause of cancer related deaths among men and women. I always emphasize to the patients prevention is better than cure. We don’t want to – our goal in the future is not to see colon cancer, but to detect early cancer producing things called polyps and by removing the polyps, you prevent colon cancer.
Host: That’s what I find most amazing. Is that this is one of the screening tools, Doctor, that can actually prevent cancer. So, let’s talk about colonoscopy. Not a lot of people want to have one. Tell us when you should have your first one and why you think some people really just are hesitant?
Dr. Perumalsamy: We recommend screening colonoscopy which is approved by Medicare starting at age 50 for most men and women. However, there are certain high risk patients whom we would like to do it earlier, like people who are smokers, who are obese, black men and women, or if you have a family history of colon cancer or if the patient themselves have a history of ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s Disease; we recommend screening them earlier.
And the main reason why people are a little hesitant to get this procedure done is the preparation and the thought of putting a small camera through your rectum and examining it. But the benefits are much, much higher. With the modern technology, the procedure has become very easy to perform and also patients are put to sleep, so they won’t feel any discomfort on the day of the procedure. The little discomfort they will have is the previous day when they have to be on a liquid diet and take some special liquid to clean themselves out. But even over the years, the societies have worked on it and we have very simple preparation materials available. It’s not a lot of liquid which you have to drink before, now it is a split dose, you can drink it at a comfortable pace, and it tastes better. So, all societies are working on it and we have come up with better colon preparations.
The day of the procedure, you are going to be put to sleep, and it is very comfortable for them to undergo it and with a very flexible scope, very simple procedure, it has a huge benefit.
Host: It certainly does and as someone who has done many colonoscopies in my life; I can tell the listeners; the prep is not that big a deal. It really, really doesn’t take that much out of you and the procedure itself is very simple. So, Doctor, tell us a little bit about what you find when you are in there. If you are looking for polyps, what are polyps and what do you do with them once you find them?
Dr. Perumalsamy: Good. Polyps are small growths inside the colon. Our goal of doing this colonoscopy is not to identify the cancer, but to identify these polyps which are precancerous growths and by removing these precancerous growths, we are preventing colon cancer. And also, even if there is a colon cancer, if you identify it early, there are much better treatments which will have better outcomes than diagnosing it at a later stage.
There are different kinds of polyps and we give recommendations to the people when their next colonoscopy should be depending on the polyp type. Maybe three years, or five years and also depending on the size of the polyps and number of polyps. If it is a normal examination; we recommend every ten years to have their colonoscopy repeated.
Host: And then what? If someone does have polyps and you’ve biopsied them and they were precancerous or they were benign, then they are gone and so the risk is gone. But what if you find cancer? What is the first thing that you would tell somebody that they need to do in the case that you found one of those polyps was cancerous?
Dr. Perumalsamy: So, if the cancer is located just inside the polyp, we have already removed it. It is like doing a mini surgery by the scope itself, so you don’t need to have anything more than that. But if the colon cancer involves more than the lining of the colon to the muscle layer; then you need a surgery. If it has involved more than the muscle layer to outside of the colon; then you might need a surgery plus chemotherapy. We have got very good treatments available. The surgical techniques as well as better chemotherapies are available for colon cancer.
Our whole goal is to beat the colon cancer. With the availability of colon cancer treatments and the screening methods, our whole goal is to cure colon cancer in the near future.
Host: Well certainly that’s a wonderful goal so, just reiterate for us and wrap up what you would like patients to know about colonoscopy and how important it is that they get that screening done and really just kind of reiterate for us when they should have it done and how often.
Dr. Perumalsamy: I always emphasize to my patients prevention is better than cure. I don’t want to treat a disease. I’ll be very happy if I am able to prevent that disease. Colon cancer is one of them. It is like doing a mammogram to prevent breast cancer. You identify the precancerous lesions and by removing those precancerous lesions, you prevent the cancer. That is the best way to beat a cancer.
I recommend – March is colorectal cancer Month. Colon cancer awareness month. And we recommend everybody to get screened. Especially people after age 50 both men and women to get this testing done. It is very, very comfortable. We’ll make sure that we provide – the quality of the colonoscopy is also very important. And with the advent of technology and with the preparations we want to make sure that way that all the patients have a comfortable experience having this colonoscopy.
For some high risk patients like black men and women, obese people, who are smokers or with strong family history of colon cancer; we may have to get it done earlier.
Host: Thank you so much Doctor, for joining us today and explaining about colonoscopy and how it’s really not a very scary test at all and something that we really all need to do at a certain age. Thank you again, for joining us. You’re listening to Palmdale Regional Radio with Palmdale Regional Medical Center. For more information, please visit www.palmdaleregional.com. Physicians are independent practitioners who are not employees or agents of Palmdale Regional Medical Center. The hospital shall not be liable for actions or treatments provided by physicians. This is Melanie Cole.
Importance of Colon Cancer Screening
Melanie Cole (Host): According to the CDC, Colorectal Cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in the United States, however, there are tests that can actually prevent or detect it at its earliest stages and we’re talking to day about colon cancer screening. My guest today is Dr. Kumaravel Perumalsamy and he’s a gastroenterologist and Chief of Medicine at Palmdale Regional Medical Center. Doctor, let’s start with just a little bit of the prevalence of colon cancer. Are you seeing more awareness? Are you seeing more colon cancer?
Dr. Kumaravel Perumalsamy (Guest): Yes. The colon cancer is the second most common cancer in mean and women and also second common cause of cancer related deaths among men and women. I always emphasize to the patients prevention is better than cure. We don’t want to – our goal in the future is not to see colon cancer, but to detect early cancer producing things called polyps and by removing the polyps, you prevent colon cancer.
Host: That’s what I find most amazing. Is that this is one of the screening tools, Doctor, that can actually prevent cancer. So, let’s talk about colonoscopy. Not a lot of people want to have one. Tell us when you should have your first one and why you think some people really just are hesitant?
Dr. Perumalsamy: We recommend screening colonoscopy which is approved by Medicare starting at age 50 for most men and women. However, there are certain high risk patients whom we would like to do it earlier, like people who are smokers, who are obese, black men and women, or if you have a family history of colon cancer or if the patient themselves have a history of ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s Disease; we recommend screening them earlier.
And the main reason why people are a little hesitant to get this procedure done is the preparation and the thought of putting a small camera through your rectum and examining it. But the benefits are much, much higher. With the modern technology, the procedure has become very easy to perform and also patients are put to sleep, so they won’t feel any discomfort on the day of the procedure. The little discomfort they will have is the previous day when they have to be on a liquid diet and take some special liquid to clean themselves out. But even over the years, the societies have worked on it and we have very simple preparation materials available. It’s not a lot of liquid which you have to drink before, now it is a split dose, you can drink it at a comfortable pace, and it tastes better. So, all societies are working on it and we have come up with better colon preparations.
The day of the procedure, you are going to be put to sleep, and it is very comfortable for them to undergo it and with a very flexible scope, very simple procedure, it has a huge benefit.
Host: It certainly does and as someone who has done many colonoscopies in my life; I can tell the listeners; the prep is not that big a deal. It really, really doesn’t take that much out of you and the procedure itself is very simple. So, Doctor, tell us a little bit about what you find when you are in there. If you are looking for polyps, what are polyps and what do you do with them once you find them?
Dr. Perumalsamy: Good. Polyps are small growths inside the colon. Our goal of doing this colonoscopy is not to identify the cancer, but to identify these polyps which are precancerous growths and by removing these precancerous growths, we are preventing colon cancer. And also, even if there is a colon cancer, if you identify it early, there are much better treatments which will have better outcomes than diagnosing it at a later stage.
There are different kinds of polyps and we give recommendations to the people when their next colonoscopy should be depending on the polyp type. Maybe three years, or five years and also depending on the size of the polyps and number of polyps. If it is a normal examination; we recommend every ten years to have their colonoscopy repeated.
Host: And then what? If someone does have polyps and you’ve biopsied them and they were precancerous or they were benign, then they are gone and so the risk is gone. But what if you find cancer? What is the first thing that you would tell somebody that they need to do in the case that you found one of those polyps was cancerous?
Dr. Perumalsamy: So, if the cancer is located just inside the polyp, we have already removed it. It is like doing a mini surgery by the scope itself, so you don’t need to have anything more than that. But if the colon cancer involves more than the lining of the colon to the muscle layer; then you need a surgery. If it has involved more than the muscle layer to outside of the colon; then you might need a surgery plus chemotherapy. We have got very good treatments available. The surgical techniques as well as better chemotherapies are available for colon cancer.
Our whole goal is to beat the colon cancer. With the availability of colon cancer treatments and the screening methods, our whole goal is to cure colon cancer in the near future.
Host: Well certainly that’s a wonderful goal so, just reiterate for us and wrap up what you would like patients to know about colonoscopy and how important it is that they get that screening done and really just kind of reiterate for us when they should have it done and how often.
Dr. Perumalsamy: I always emphasize to my patients prevention is better than cure. I don’t want to treat a disease. I’ll be very happy if I am able to prevent that disease. Colon cancer is one of them. It is like doing a mammogram to prevent breast cancer. You identify the precancerous lesions and by removing those precancerous lesions, you prevent the cancer. That is the best way to beat a cancer.
I recommend – March is colorectal cancer Month. Colon cancer awareness month. And we recommend everybody to get screened. Especially people after age 50 both men and women to get this testing done. It is very, very comfortable. We’ll make sure that we provide – the quality of the colonoscopy is also very important. And with the advent of technology and with the preparations we want to make sure that way that all the patients have a comfortable experience having this colonoscopy.
For some high risk patients like black men and women, obese people, who are smokers or with strong family history of colon cancer; we may have to get it done earlier.
Host: Thank you so much Doctor, for joining us today and explaining about colonoscopy and how it’s really not a very scary test at all and something that we really all need to do at a certain age. Thank you again, for joining us. You’re listening to Palmdale Regional Radio with Palmdale Regional Medical Center. For more information, please visit www.palmdaleregional.com. Physicians are independent practitioners who are not employees or agents of Palmdale Regional Medical Center. The hospital shall not be liable for actions or treatments provided by physicians. This is Melanie Cole.