When’s the last time you had a screening test for colorectal cancer?

If your answer is never, or not in a long while, you need to talk with your doctor about scheduling one. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is continuing to team up with the American Cancer Society to stress the importance of colorectal cancer screenings.

The bad news: Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. The good news: The death rate from colorectal cancer has been dropping for the past 15 years.

One reason for the decline, according to the American Cancer Society, is that screening tests are finding polyps early, allowing them to be removed before they develop into cancers. Also, thanks to these screenings, colorectal cancer itself is being found earlier, when it’s easier to cure, and treatments have improved.

How important is early detection? For people whose colorectal cancer is treated at an early stage, the f ve-year relative survival rate is greater than 90 percent. But only about two out of five colorectal cancers are found at that stage, and the survival rates decline significantly for cancers detected at later stages. For all of these reasons, it makes sense to have a colorectal cancer screening.

Medicare covers a variety of colorectal cancer screening tests for people with Medicare who are 50 and older. It also covers a screening colonoscopy, for which there is no minimum age.

To determine which screening test is best for you, and to schedule one, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida and the American Cancer Society urge you to contact your doctor today. It could save your life.

www.bcbsfl.com