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Apr 1, 2008 7:54 pm US/Eastern

CBS4 Colorectal Campaign: Colon Surgery

Click here for more information on CBS4.COM/Colorectal

MIAMI (CBS4) ― CBS 4 "The Test For Life" campaign stresses the importance of getting tested for colon cancer and you can be tested for free. Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. and with few specific signs or symptoms, the only hope of catching it early is to get screened. That's why CBS4 is kicking off "The Test For Life" campaign.

About 150,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with cancer of the colon or rectum every year, and about 50,000 will die from the disease. It strikes men and women equally.

Erica Pigoni is just 29, but she was facing a lifetime of illness due to a hereditary inflammatory disease of her colon. "I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis about four and a half years ago," she said.

The disease also put her at a very high risk of developing colon cancer, and many doctors recommended removing the entire colon for symptom relief, and to prevent colon cancers from forming.

In the past, to perform these kinds of major operations doctors would have to open up the entire abdominal cavity with a procedure called a laparotomy, but now surgeons are getting even better results with minimally invasive techniques.

"It took a long time for us to be able to feel that we could do this safely in the face of cancer surgery," said Dr. Michael Hellinger of Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach.

Dr. Hellinger is a colorectal surgeon. He says such techniques have only recently become possible thanks to special tools and video cameras called laparoscopes.

"We make very small incisions and do the surgery with the assistance of video cameras and long skinny instruments," Dr. Hellinger added.

For colon cancer, these laparoscopic procedures have the same long-term results as the older surgeries, but Dr. Hellinger says, in the short term, since they are less invasive they provide clear advantages.

"Patients are leaving the hospital in 2 to 3 days after surgery instead of a week after surgery. And they're back to work in a couple of weeks instead of a couple of months," he explained.

Erica decided minimally invasive surgery gave her the best shot at a healthy life. "It's a lot easier to do it this way versus being cut opened and having more problems down the road."

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