March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. It’s a form of cancer about which health care experts and survivors are trying to raise awareness, as cases are on the rise among adults under age 55. Diagnoses are also being made at increasingly advanced stages of the disease. And it’s an issue that’s frustrating health care providers, who have long noted the cancer is one of the most preventable types of cancers if people get regularly checked.
In 2011, Christina Thompson was 41 years old when she was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. The diagnosis came after several people in her family had already been diagnosed with it, including her mother who died at age 46. Thompson is now advocating that people get screened when something seems off. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends regular screening starting at the age of 45. Thompson notes her diagnosis came four years before that benchmark.
