Screenings Crucial With Colon Cancer

If you’re wearing blue today, you’re in sync with National Dress in Blue Day.

The purpose of it is to raise awareness and educate people about colon cancer and how they can reduce their risk of developing it. Gov. Terry Branstad will sign a proclamation today designating March as Colon Cancer Awareness Month.

"Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.” says Dr. N. Anh Tran, director of Methodist Jennie Edmundson’s Colon and Rectal Surgery Center. “But it is also 80 percent curable when detected early. In fact, it is the most curable cancer there is, if detected early.”

Daily Nonpareil reporter Tim Johnson spoke with cancer experts in Council Bluffs on the importance of colon cancer screenings.