The FIT at Fifty HealthCheck program is providing free colorectal cancer screenings for the uninsured at clinics in metro Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Kingman and the Hopi community.
The program is working to increase screening rates for both the insured and uninsured, since colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in Arizona.
The new message isn’t ‘Get screened at age 50.’ Rather, the message now is to start getting screened at age 50 or when you have symptoms, according to Virginia Warren, Arizona Cancer Control Office chief for the Arizona Department of Health Services.
More than half of those diagnosed with colon cancer under the age of 50 are diagnosed at a late stage. The screenings can help discover the cancer; screenings also can detect the presence of benign tumors that, if not removed, could become cancer, state health officials said.
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The goal of FIT at Fifty HealthCheck is to increase the number of insured and uninsured Arizonans screened for colorectal cancer to 80 percent by 2014. The program is targeted at men and women ages 50 to 64 who have income levels between 100 and 200 percent of the federal poverty level — $11,670 to $23,340 for an individual.
Risk factors include obesity and a lack of physical activity. For information, call 1-866-227-6044 or go to www.fitatfiftyhealthcheck.org
A colonoscopy scares off many from being tested, but there also is a much easier, less invasive “FIT test” that can be done in a person’s home. Taking the FIT — Fecal Immunochemical Test — every year is as effective as having a colonoscopy every decade, health officials said.
There are three important symptoms to watch for, and family history is critical — especially if parents or direct siblings have been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Other symptoms include blood in the stool, constipation and diarrhea, and narrow pencillike stools.
