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Symptoms |
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Rectal bleeding or blood in stool.
Diarrhea or constipation.
Narrowing of stool.
Abdominal pain.
Weakness, fatigue, jaundice or poor appetite.
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Screening for Colon Cancer
The choice of screening tests should be based on your personal preferences and your resources for testing and follow-up. Talk to your doctor about the pros and cons of each test before selecting one.
The American Cancer Society recommends that men and women with no known risk factors or symptoms should undergo one of the five screening options beginning at age 50:
- A yearly fecal occult blood test every year, or
- Flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5 years, or
- Yearly FOBT, plus flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5 years, or
- Double-contrast barium enema every 5 years, or
- Colonoscopy every 10 years
Note that the American Cancer Society prefers the combination of yearly FOBT and flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5 over either of these options alone.
You should consider a different testing schedule with screening starting at age 40 if you or someone in your family has a history of colon cancer.
More on Colon Cancer Colon and Rectal Cancer Myths Abound
In The Encyclopedia: Bowel resection
Colon cancer
Rectal cancer
Sigmoidoscopy
This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.
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