“Many patients have told me it wasn’t nearly as scary as they expected,” Dr. Dale Burleson said of bowel cancer screening. He performs the procedure on hundreds of patients at the Baylor Medical Center in Frisco, Texas each year. He says during a routine colonoscopy, he looks for bleeding, inflammation, discoloration and small growths of tissue called polyps. “The normal lining of the colon should look like the inside of a cheek, completely smooth. We’re looking for anything that might signal a digestive condition or early signs of cancer,” Burleson explained.

One of the primary things doctors look for in a bowel cancer screening is the presence of colon polyps. A polyp is an unusual growth on the surface of the colon, also called the large intestine. Some polyps appear bulbous, yellow and round, while others are red and yellow and recessed into the wall like a scab. Usually, these polyps are non-cancerous and benign, but sometimes they turn into cancer. As a precautionary method, pathologists will remove and examine these growths for evidence of metastatic colon cancer.

There are several different types of bowel cancer screening a doctor may perform to look for polyps. With a barium enema, the doctor will rectally administer the barium liquid before taking x-rays of the large intestine. During a sigmoidoscopy, the doctor will insert a thin, flexible tube with a light attached into the rectum to view the last third of the large intestine. To look deeper, the doctor may recommend a colonoscopy procedure, which is similar to the sigmoidoscopy but allows the doctor to see further into the entire large intestine and remove any polyps he or she finds. During a computerized tomography (CT) scan, the doctor will insert a flexible tube into the patient’s rectum and take x-rays using a computer. A stool sample test may also reveal telltale signs of cancer, although it’s not as effective as the other types of screening methods.

There is no sure-fire way to prevent polyps from turning up during a routine bowel cancer screening, but certain choices seem to limit the risk. Eating lots of vegetables (like broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, carrots, beets, onions, potatoes, beans and peas), fruits (like strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and apricots), calcium (milk, cheese, yogurt), whole grains and fiber is crucial. People worried about developing colorectal cancer or about colon cancer recurrence should avoid smoking and alcohol, exercise most days of the week for at least 30 minutes, as well as avoid fatty foods and red meat. Some research suggests taking a low dose of aspirin every day may help in colon cancer prevention too.

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