VIDEO: ‘Never been more important’ to discuss value of CRC screening, early detection
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
In a Healio video exclusive, David M. Poppers, MD, PhD, explains why “now is the most important time” for colorectal cancer screening and how physicians can help make patients more comfortable with colonoscopy.
Patients, and even some physicians, often prefer to avoid discussion of anything “below the belts,” but overcoming the stigma is critical, Poppers, professor of medicine and director of GI quality and strategic initiatives at NYU Langone Health, said.
“Screening is important because patients have no symptoms, and we need to stay on top and be focused on preventative care,” he said. “Colorectal cancer discovered early generally has an excellent prognosis.”
Poppers noted it is “very helpful” for patients to know that there are “a lot of options” available for the pre-colonoscopy bowel cleanse that are optimized for comfort and efficacy, lowering the chance that a repeat procedure will be necessary.
“We have so many good options now for enhancing a very straightforward procedure that really indeed saves lives,” he said.
Poppers made the case for why it is more important than ever to screen for malignancies even in the absence of symptoms.
“It’s never been more important to have this discussion with patients, especially as we have been actually detecting colorectal cancer and some of the precursor lesions, colon polyps, at younger ages,” he said.
Collapse
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts