Lynbrook doctor urges screenings during Colon Cancer Awareness Month

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Noting an increase in colon cancer cases among patients under the age of 50, Lynbrook-based gastroenterologist Larry Good is imploring adults of all ages to take advantage of the many screening options being offered.

“There is a very disturbing trend of colon cancer cases,” said Good, who has been practicing on Long Island for the past 38 years and has had a Lynbrook practice for the past seven, located at 444 Merrick Road “There’s a change in trends happening before our very eyes.”

Good said that most people do not begin getting screened for potential colon issues until they are 50, but more and more millennials have been diagnosed with colon cancer. With March being Colon Cancer Awareness Month, Good said now is a good time to get screened.

“I think the purpose of Colon Cancer Awareness Month is to increase screenings for colon cancer, which is the most preventable cancer that exists, and for which we are doing a poor job in adequate screening,” he explained. “It is estimated that only half of the patients who should be screened in the U.S. are screened. This month is designed to encourage patients to talk to physicians about possible red-flag signs.”

Good said those signs include the presence of rectal bleeding and anemia, which is when there is a deficiency of red blood cells or of hemoglobin in the blood. According to Good, colon cancer takes about 50,000 lives per year in the U.S., and about 4 percent of the population will have it in their lifetime.

He added that the colonoscopy is still the traditional screening process to detect colon cancer, but there are also other options. Colonoscopies require vigorous prep, but another, noninvasive newer option, called Cologuard, is an effective alternative.

Cologuard, which is approved by the Food and Drug Administration, is an at-home multi-targeted stool DNA test, which is considered beneficial to patients and has received an A-rating from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent, volunteer panel of national experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine that works to improve the health of all Americans.

The Cologuard test enables workers at a lab to identify mutations in epithelia cells that are shed in the colon from stool, Good said. For this test, a kit is sent to a patient’s home and then sent back to a lab, where a doctor evaluates the results.

“Having options is something that is to great advantage for the public at large,” Good said. “Colonoscopy is the No. 1 screening test that we do. For many patients, it’s not an ideal choice. We recommend the Cologuard test for some patients. I’m on my soapbox 24 hours a day preaching colon cancer screenings.”