Early detection, the best option against colon cancer in Latinos, according to physicians

Miami, Oct 1 (EFE).- Colorectal cancer is on the rise among young Latinos in the United States even though it is a disease that can be cured with early detection, medical experts, who are fighting against the myth that all diagnoses have a “terrible prognosis,” told EFE.

“If detected in its early stages, colon cancer is treatable in 90% of people,” explained gastroenterologist Xavier Llor, director of gastrointestinal cancer prevention at Yale University School of Medicine.

The physician regrets that there is a great deal of misinformation about this cancer in the Hispanic community. He is especially concerned about the myth that the disease has a negative prognosis although treatment “has greatly improved this prognosis in recent years.”

Jorge Garces, Chief Scientific Officer at Exact Sciences, a molecular diagnostics company based in Madison, Wisconsin, which has launched its first Spanish-language campaign focused on the Hispanic community, said that ironically this disease “is one of the most preventable, but least prevented cancers.”

Debunking these myths has become a goal of scientists to prevent colon cancer from continuing to be one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in the United States.

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of death in 2024 with 53,010 deaths, behind the 125,070 lung cancer deaths, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the government's lead agency responsible for biomedicine and public health research.

But dispelling myths about the seriousness of the disease has not been easy. For real estate agent Yla Flores, the diagnosis surprised her at age 54.

“You never think it will happen to you until it happens,” she confesses, adding that she was not expecting the diagnosis.

Flores had no family history and no symptoms of any kind when she was diagnosed thanks to the Cologuard test, produced by Exact Sciences, as a less invasive alternative to detect this disease.

Dr. Llor states that “the incidence of colorectal cancer in the U.S. Hispanic community is 32.5 persons per 100,000. The number increases among Hispanic men to 38.8 and drops to 27.4 among Hispanic women.”

Incidence in young Latinos is concerning

Although the incidence in Latinos is slightly below the U.S. average of 35.9 per 100,000 people, and well below Alaska Natives (88.5) and African Americans (41.7), Dr. Llor is concerned about the increase in colorectal cancer cases among Hispanics under the age of 50.

“The Hispanic community has a higher percentage of cases among the younger population than non-Hispanic whites,” the Yale University researcher stressed.

That's one reason Garces believes a test like Cologuard can be an effective, non-invasive way to detect colon cancer, even in the early stages. He says the test can be used in the privacy of the home and no special preparation is needed, unlike colonoscopies.

Flores is in remission after undergoing surgery and chemotherapy treatment, which has led her to become a voice for early detection testing in the Hispanic community.

Garces and Llor agree that Hispanics must live “as healthy as possible,” avoiding tobacco and excessive alcohol.

They recommend a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, low in meat and fats, regular physical exercise, and avoiding obesity.

“But the most important thing is to be screened at age 45 if there is no family history of this cancer. If there is, people should inform their physician, as testing should be started earlier and to assess whether there is a possibility of genetic predisposition,” Dr. Llor pointed out. EFE

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Exact Sciences supported EFE for the preparation of this article.