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Brett Baber is an attorney who practices personal injury law in Bangor.
Before you get squeamish about a discussion of colon cancer screening, let me tell you how it saved my life and how it might save yours.
I have been dutifully getting my colonoscopies on schedule since the recommended age of 50 (that age is now 45, and earlier if there is a family history). Until my most recent exam in 2025, there was nothing to worry about aside from a few polyps, which the surgeon removed during the procedure. But my 2025 exam was different.
After the procedure, while I was still groggy from the sedation, the doctor told me something completely unexpected: “You have a cancer in your upper colon.” What? That woke me up in a hurry. So we had a discussion about the modest size of the tumor and the apparent fact that it was still contained within the intestinal wall. We made the appointment with a surgeon and I was fortunate enough to get on the schedule a month later.
One solace was that we had apparently caught the cancer early through this screening. For a lot of cancers, especially colorectal, catching the disease early can make all the difference, and it did in my case. The surgeon was able to remove the entire tumor, and my lymph nodes and blood tests were clear from cancer. The initial screening turned out to be the difference between a tough chapter and a tragedy, between a bump in the road and a life turned upside down or ended.
When left unchecked, colorectal cancer’s five-year survival rate can be as low as 13%, but when it is caught and treated early, the five-year survival rate skyrockets up to 91%! This is really critical because the only way to catch cancer early is to get screened early and often. What worries me is that about 25% of eligible Mainers are behind on their recommended screenings. That’s nearly one in four people putting off a test that could potentially save their life.
I was one of the fortunate ones. My cancer was detected early enough for treatment to be effective. That early detection gave me options. It gave me time. And ultimately, it gave me my life back. Too many others are not as fortunate, often because they did not get screened soon enough or assumed they were not at risk.
There is a persistent misconception that colorectal cancer is an older person’s disease or something that only affects people with a family history. The reality is that the American Cancer Society just announced that colon cancer is now the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in people under the age of 50, and in 2021, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force updated its guidelines, officially lowering its recommended CRC screening age from 50 to 45. Mainers need to get serious about doing the work to catch this cancer when it’s treatable.
What that means is screening. Due to medical advances, getting screened is easier than most people think, with newer, innovative options such as the Shield test, the first and only blood test approved by the FDA as a primary screening option for colorectal cancer for those aged 45 and older at average risk of the disease. This test offers a convenient, non-invasive way to get checked, especially for those who may be hesitant about other methods. But what matters most isn’t which test you pick, it’s making sure you get screened.
I now look forward to my next screening — the last one saved my life! For our health, simple screenings like this are the work that’s really worth doing — that’s really going to make a difference. So, talk to your doctor today about what you can do to protect against colorectal cancer.