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Giant colon promotes screening

Um . . . OK . . . it’s an embarrassing topic for many people. You know, butts and intestines and bowel movements and all that. But when it comes to saving lives by preventing colon cancer, let’s face it, there’s no such thing as too much information.
HealthMatters Giant Colon 20100308
A visitor stands in a giant colon exhibit designed to raise awareness for colon cancer checks in Toronto.

Um . . . OK . . . it’s an embarrassing topic for many people. You know, butts and intestines and bowel movements and all that. But when it comes to saving lives by preventing colon cancer, let’s face it, there’s no such thing as too much information.

To that end, the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada, in conjunction with government partners, has been taking a “giant colon” on the road to cities across Ontario to educate people about the disease and to promote the need for screening.

At 12 metres long and 2.5 metres high, the pink worm-like structure allows visitors a walk-through view of the inside of a colon, although this one is made of a plasticized material that keeps its shape thanks to compressed air.

Once inside, visitors see the stalky, mushroom-like growths called polyps attached to the colon’s lining and what they may evolve into if not removed — the dreaded mass of cells that indicates a tumour.

Since January, the exhibit has visited nine Ontario cities, including London, Kingston, Thunder Bay and Toronto. More stops are planned in Ontario, including Peterborough and Ottawa/Renfrew, and it will also travel to Montreal and other locations in Quebec.

“It attracts a lot of attention,” says Dr. Linda Rabeneck, medical director of Ontario’s colorectal screening program.

And that’s the whole point, says the gastroenterologist from Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, who sees too many patients whose newly diagnosed colorectal cancer has already reached an advanced stage. “We hope that they’ll be aware that this is an important cancer.”

“One of our messages is you don’t think about it, it’s your bowels. We don’t talk about our bowels or colons or rectum, but this is actually the No. 1 cause of cancer deaths in Canadian men and women that’s not related to tobacco.”

The Canadian Cancer Society estimates that 22,000 people were diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2009, and about 9,100 died last year from the disease. Only lung cancer has a higher mortality rate.

“We hope to show them what the colon is, how these cancers grow from the innermost lining of the colon, and get them thinking about it,” Rabeneck says.

“And get men and women realizing that they need to get screened.”

Ontario was the first province to launch a formal colorectal screening program.