Men's Journal

Q: With a new blood test to detect colon cancer coming out soon, can I look forward to never having another colonoscopy?

A: Once it becomes commercially available — which should be sometime in the next year — the blood test, called ColoMarker, will be able to detect a protein in about 90 percent of people who already have colon cancer, but it should really be used only in between colonoscopies. Blood test or no blood test, beginning at age 50 (40 if you have a family history of colon cancer), everyone should get a colonoscopy every 10 years. And leave your excuses at home: The anesthesia is mild, there’s no pain during or after the procedure for 99 percent of patients, and you can usually be back at work in a few hours. The most unpleasant part of the experience is probably the preparation, which consists of drinking a bottle of laxative and spending a few hours on the toilet. But it’s certainly worthwhile, considering the upshot: Doctors can snip out precancerous polyps and detect cancer before it spreads to other parts of your body.

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Email your questions for Dr. Bob Arnot to dr.bob@mensjournal.com.

This article originally appeared in the June/July 2010 issue of Men’s Journal.