Colon Cancer Screenings Save Lives, Money

Colonoscopies Can Cut Disease's Death Toll, But Many People Don't Take Advantage Of Them

(CBS)  Carolyn Chichester is a 53-year-old single woman whose 84-year-old mother is dying from colon cancer. But it didn't have to be that way, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric reports.

Her mom, Martha Fasciano, was a registered nurse who knew firsthand that if not caught early, colon cancer has only a 10 percent survival rate. Though she's a mother of five, a world traveler and a woman brave enough to get a college degree at age 50, Martha was afraid to have a colonoscopy.

"It's really heartbreaking. And it should never have happened," Chichester says.

The American Cancer Society recommends that all those 50 and over get screened for colon cancer, but still, only half of those who should do.

Seeing her mother deteriorate has prompted Carolyn to bite the bullet and get a colonoscopy.

"These kinds of tests are really important. They really can make a huge difference," Chichester says. "I mean, you never have to get colon cancer."

A colonoscopy is a two-step process. The preparation is done the day before to clean out the colon for the procedure the next day.

Chichester is looking for a job, and because she's unemployed, she has no health insurance. But even if she did, her colonoscopy would not necessarily be covered. So far, only 19 states have laws requiring insurance companies cover screening colonoscopies. Almost every state — 47 in all — requires coverage for mammograms.

But Carolyn is eligible for a free colonoscopy at Stony Brook University Hospital, one of five hospitals nationwide that offer free colon cancer screening. It's part of a pilot program funded by the Centers for Disease Control. It targets those unable to afford the test, which costs an average of about $1,200.

Early detection of colon cancer saves lives and money. A recent report from the American College of Gastroenterology found that treating a patient in the early stages of colon cancer costs an average of $30,000 per patient. Treating someone who is diagnosed with advanced colorectal cancer is estimated at $120,000 per patient.

The colonoscopy is done on an outpatient basis and takes less than an hour to complete. If any precancerous polyps are found, they are removed during the procedure, preventing the development of full-blown colon cancer.

Dr. Joseph Anderson, Stony Brook's lead endocopist, explains that those who think they may be invulnerable to colon cancer often are.

"A lot of people have this misconception that only if you have a history of colon cancer in your family do you need to have a colonoscopy, and that you have to have symptoms to have a colonoscopy," he says. "Approximately 80 percent of people that develop colon cancer have no family history."

Carolyn says the colonoscopy was "so easy."

Carolyn may still be looking for work, but she already has a mission that would make her mother proud. "If one person can hear what I'm saying and decides to go and get a colonoscopy, then what we're doing is a success," she says.