Screening the Relatives

Among relatives of those diagnosed with colon cancer, denial is a very common feeling. Relatives of loved ones who are diagnosed with colon cancer often have feelings including:

• I'm really sad about this, but I'm sure it's not going to happen to me.
• It's horrible that my brother (or another relative) is so unlucky to have been diagnosed with colon cancer.
• It's a good thing I'm healthy and don't have to worry about cancer, so I can help my loved one.

Recently released research on this topic supports that these feelings, while common, may lead close family members of people diagnosed with colon cancer to miss out on a vital opportunity to reduce their own risk of this disease. The study authors found that among first-degree relatives (mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters) of people diagnosed with colon cancer, 70% had undergone colon cancer screening. Among those first-degree relatives who were screened for colon cancer, 33.7% had completed fecal occult blood testing, 19.4% had undergone barium enema, 10.7% had sigmoidoscopy, and 58.7% had colonoscopy.

At first glance, a 70% screening rate may seem pretty good, but given that colon cancer can run in families, it is likely that every first degree relative of a person with colon cancer should be screened for this disease. As well, the most effective screening method, colonoscopy, may be preferable over other, less effective screening methods, such as fecal occult blood testing.

What may be most interesting are the reasons why relatives of people diagnosed with colon cancer aren't screened themselves. Not feeling that they themselves are at risk for colon cancer, as well as worry and fear about cancer turned out to be important barriers to relatives seeking colon cancer screening. This is unfortunate, because when caught early, with routine screening, colon cancer is a highly treatable disease with a very high survival rate. Waiting to be screened until symptoms appear can greatly reduce survival after colon cancer.

Your Action Plan

If you have a relative who's been diagnosed with colon cancer, talk to your doctor about being screened for colon cancer yourself. And even though nobody looks forward to a colonoscopy, there are plenty of practical steps you can take to make this test easier. Be sure you mention your family history of colon cancer to your doctor and ask what an effective screening plan for you should look like.

You may need a baseline colonoscopy, to make sure everything looks good and to remove any pre-cancerous growths if they are found. This may be followed up with other tests at regular intervals, to keep yourself healthy and colon cancer free. Even though it's scary to contemplate cancer, not dealing with this issue is far scarier when it comes to your long-term health and well-being.