AURORA, Colo. (Oct. 2, 2006) – The Colorado Colorectal Screening Program recently received a $3 million grant to provide colon cancer screenings for uninsured legal residents of Colorado. The funding comes from tax increases on tobacco products.

The Colorado Colorectal Screening Program is managed by the University of Colorado Cancer Center at the University of Colorado Denver, but it is based in more than 65 community health clinics across Colorado.  It began in January 2006, in community clinics in northeastern Colorado, at Denver Health and in Pueblo. The program already has screened more than 600 patients, found five cancers, and prevented an estimated 12 cancers by the removal of large polyps. 

Tim Byers, MD, MPH, is the UCCC deputy director and director of the Colorado Colorectal Screening Program. “We are thrilled to be making such a significant impact with this program.  This new grant will allow us to reach out to more patients, and substantially reduce the suffering from colorectal cancer across Colorado,” he said.

The program will be expanded beginning Nov. 1 to serve uninsured patients in all community clinics across Colorado whose incomes are below 250 percent of the federal poverty level.  Those who do not have health insurance suffer the highest mortality rates from colon cancer. By targeting this population for screening, the program aims to detect and even prevent cancer in these high-risk individuals.

The Colorado Colorectal Screening Program screens patients by sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy. The program’s goal is to detect colorectal cancers early, when they are more curable, and to prevent them altogether by removing colorectal polyps.

The program seeks to screen more than 12,500 Coloradans by 2010, contributing substantially to the state’s overall goal of screening 75 percent of the uninsured population by that year. It is accompanied by an awareness campaign to encourage all Coloradans to get colorectal screening exams.

Colon cancer is the second most deadly form of cancer in the United States. The disease kills an estimated 620 Coloradans a year. However, with early detection and treatment up to 80 percent of these deaths are preventable.

The grant awarded to the Colorado Colorectal Screening Program is a part of a larger distribution of the tax revenue collected from tobacco products. Also awarded were grants to The Children’s Hospital, Denver Health, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, and the San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center.

The University of Colorado Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in the Rocky Mountain Region. Headquartered primarily at the University of Colorado Denver, its four-part mission is excellence in cancer research, treatment, prevention and education. For more information, visit the Web site at www.uccc.info.