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Colon cancer not male-only disease, warn experts

Abu Dhabi - The exact reason for why colon cancer is presenting at a younger age in the UAE has yet to be determined.

Misconceptions about colorectal cancer screening are leading many Emirati nationals to forgo a procedure that could potentially save their lives, according to healthcare experts.
Speaking on the occasion of Colon Cancer Awareness Month, Dr Aydamir Alrakawi, staff physician, gastroenterology in the Digestive Disease Institute at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, said that misinformation about the potentially life-threatening condition and screening is preventing Emiratis from taking critical preventative measures.

"These common misconceptions include that colonoscopy is a painful procedure, that screening is not required unless an individual is feeling symptoms, and even that it is a 'male-only' disease," said Dr Alrakawi.
"In fact, this is far from the truth. Patients who choose to undergo colonoscopy are placed under general anesthesia; most wake up feeling as though nothing happened. In addition, healthy patients are the perfect candidates for screening. When performing a colonoscopy, we are not looking for cancer, but for polyps, or irregular cells.
"These abnormal cells typically do not present any symptoms, but we find them in about 25 per cent of screened patients. If detected early and removed, however, we can prevent these polyps from developing into cancer down the line. Also, colon cancer affects both men and women equally." The Health Authority Abu Dhabi recommends individuals start getting screened at age 40, then again every 10 years.
This compares to an age recommendation of 50 in the US for colon cancer screening, a variance, explains Dr Alrakawi, that can be attributed to UAE patients getting diagnosed with the disease on average 10 years younger than in the West. The exact reason for why colon cancer is presenting at a younger age in the UAE has yet to be determined.
However, doctors believe it could be linked to combination of factors, including lifestyle and genetics. Nevertheless, this fact makes it all the more important that people not only get screened, but do so early, said Dr Shafik Sidani, staff physician, colorectal surgery in the Digestive Disease Institute at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.
One challenge to educating the UAE community about the importance of cancer screening is the lack of a solid primary healthcare system, added Dr Sidani.  reporters@khaleejtimes.com
Know the survival rates of colon cancer
Colon cancer is the second most prevalent type of cancer in the UAE after breast cancer. At stage 0, when abnormal cells are found in the innermost layer of colon wall, the colon cancer survival rate is nearly 100 per cent. Survival for people diagnosed with stage 1 colon cancer is about 93 per cent. This number drops to between 72 per cent and 85 per cent for stage two, 65-70 per cent for stage three, and less than 10 per cent in stage four.