The stakeholders in a consensus at the launch of the Dr Olu-muyiwa Olugbola-han Olusanya Colon Cancer Screening Campaign (DOCAC) has said that colon cancer is common but it is curable when it is detected early through colon cancer screening from the age of 40 years.
Professor Oludolapo Afuwape, a surgeon, in his presentation of its burden in Nigeria at the launch in collaboration with the College of Medicine at the University of Ibadan, stated that colon cancer is one of the leading cancers in the world and a significant concern seen in about 8 to 9 of every 100,000 individuals in Nigeria.
He stated that the chances of developing colon cancer increase with age, inactivity, family history of colorectal cancer, and diet.
According to him, common symptoms of colorectal cancer include changes in bowel habits that may be in the form of diarrhoea or constipation, having blood in or on the stool, abdominal pain, aches or cramps, and unexplained weight loss.
He added, “Most people think that once there is blood in the stool, it is jedijedi. Some think that when you have itching around the anus, it is jedi-jedi. Some think that when a man is impotent, it is jedijedi. Some say when you have low back pain, it is jedijedi. But the real jedijedi probably may be haemorrhoids, which cause blood. But haemorrhoids are easy to treat and don’t kill. But haemorrhoids can mimic cancer. That is why we need to see what exactly is termed jedijedi; we need to see that it is not cancer.”
Professor Afuwape declared that in recent times cases of colon cancer have been diagnosed in teenagers and urged everybody to be aware of the cancer and to be screened to be able to catch its precursors early and treat appropriately.
Dr Kolawole Akande, a consultant gastroenterologist, said screening colonoscopy, a procedure to look for polyps that are likely precursors of colon cancer in the future, has been found to reduce the occurrence of colon cancer by about 60 per cent.
“The good thing about colorectal cancer is that as early as 7 to 10 years before that episode of abdominal pain, blood in the stool, and all that, there are actually things that are in the large intestine that can tell us that in the next 10 years, you are likely to have cancer. Not all cancers give such a great opportunity. And that is why screening is very important when it comes to colon cancer,” he said.
He declared that those that should be screened for colon cancer include people that are 40 years and above, have a personal history of colorectal cancer, have a family history of colorectal cancer, and have a personal history of diseases like inflammatory bowel disease and Crohn’s disease.
He declared that aside from colonoscopy, image-based tests and stool-based tests like the faecal immunochemical test (FIT) and guaiac-based faecal occult blood test can also be used to screen for colorectal cancer in individuals annually.