Colon cancer screening
for insured people

A campaign of Ernst & Young BKK

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Colon cancer can affect anyone

Every year 60,000 people develop colon cancer in Germany and 25,000 people die of it.

Warnings are too late

The insidious thing about colon cancer is that it often grows years in the bowel without causing symptoms.

Colon cancer is curable by early detection

In contrast to many other cancer diseases, colon cancer has the chance to be prevent completely by preventative measures or to detect it at such an early stage that it can be cured.

Colon cancer is one of the most common cancer diseases in Germany. In addition to the food- and lifestyle habits, genetic factors are particularly involved to the development of colon cancer. A familial prestress means an increased risk for this insidious disease. Use the knowledge to avoid colon cancer for yourself and your family as best you can.

What is colorectal cancer?

The term colorectal cancer refers to a malignant tumor in the colon or rectum. Malignant tumors in the small intestine are in contrast extremely rare.

Colorectal cancer is one of the most researched cancers in humans. It is known that approximately 90% of colorectal cancer diseases develop from initially benign intestinal polyps. The degeneration of the intestinal polyp (adenoma) to the cancer (carcinoma) can take about 10 years.

The malignant tumor occurs gradually and often completely unnoticed. When typical symptoms like stomach pain, bowel irregularities or visible blood in the stool occur, the disease is often in an advanced state already. Early detection plays an important role in colorectal cancer. Early detection is the most effective weapon against this disease.

Risk for colon cancer

From the many years of experience and research, there are known various factors that increase the risk of colorectal cancer:

The incidence of colorectal cancer increases with the age. From the age of 50 years, colorectal cancer occurs much more frequently, but younger people may also develop colorectal cancer, especially if they have an increased familial risk.

In approximately 30% of cases of colorectal cancer, a hereditary predisposition is the cause. People from this group need early, regular examinations, already in the younger age, in order to recognize colon cancer and its precursors as early as possible.

A further risk group for colorectal cancer are the people with a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease).

Patients with type 2 diabetes have a threefold increased risk of colorectal cancer. In this group of persons, the disease is also more often fatal.

Food and dietary habits can also be a risk factor for colorectal cancer. If you eat too much fat and red meat, too little fiber, fruits and vegetables, it increases your risk of colorectal cancer. In addition, lack of exercise, smoking and alcohol consumption are among the factors that increase the risk of colorectal cancer.

Prevent colon cancer

The maximum safety to recognize colorectal cancer is the colonoscopy. This is offered by the health insurance companies for men over 50 years and women over 55 years. The colonoscopy can be repeated at a distance of 10 years. From the age of 50, a claim to an immunological test for the detection of blood in the stool (iFOBT) exists.

For all people who have not yet reached the stated age, or who do not want the colonoscopy, this test is an alternative.

The test immoCARE-C which is offered in the campaign has proven its effectiveness in many clinical trials. In a clinical study*, 91% of colorectal cancers showed a positive test.

*Vogel T. et al; Vergleich verschiedener Stuhltests zur Detektion von Neoplasien des Kolon. Dtsch Med Wochenschr 2005: 130:872-877.

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