GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Cherry Health has announced a partnership with Cologuard to bring safe, at-home colorectal cancer screening tests to its patients.
Julee Geib is director of Practice Operations and Nursing at Cherry Health. In a telephone interview with WOOD Radio News, she explained what patients do with the test kit.
"They take it home, they mail in the results and the results get forwarded to their primary care physician, who does see if follow-up is need," she said. "It certainly reduces all of the barriers around a colonoscopy, which is still the gold standard for colorectal cancer screening. But Cologuard is a close second to that."
Cologuard uses a precise biomarker panel to detect 10 distinct signs of DNA damage early on, even before symptoms appear. The results of a Cologuard test are good for three years.
"Which reduces the frequency when patients have to complete the (colonoscopy) test, as well," Geib said.
Cherry Health said the five-year survival for colon cancer, now 65.4 percent, is improving because more people are getting screened and avoiding high-risk behaviors.
The American Association for Cancer Research said colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in the country, behind lung cancer.
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