Colorectal cancer cases increase locally

Although national trends show fewer people are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer each year, Flathead Valley doctors have watched a growing number of people face the quiet disease.

Colorectal cancer is the nation’s second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States for men and women combined, according to the American Cancer Society. It’s also a highly treatable cancer if detected early.

Since health officials began advocating for regular screenings in the last decade for people 50 and older, cases nationwide have dropped by 28 percent.

But Montana’s statistics have remained untouched by the national decline.

Since 2006, roughly 500 Montanans have been diagnosed with colorectal cancer each year, according to the state Department of Public Health and Human Services. On average, 170 of those cases end in death.

Dr. Dan Munzing, a family practitioner with Glacier Medical Associates in Whitefish, said when the clinic started screening for colorectal cancer roughly 12 years ago, one patient on average was diagnosed with the disease every three years.

Since 2014, that number has risen to four cases a year.

“We’re reading about how this cancer is shrinking around the country and at the same time watching more people walk through our doors with it,” Munzing said. “We can’t say why for sure, but we know it doesn’t need to happen.”

Screenings search for a polyp — a precancerous abnormality that can turn into colorectal cancer. If found, the polyp can be immediately removed without pain to the patient and prevent the growth from ever turning into cancer, Munzing said.

Dr. Dave Sheldon, a surgical oncologist for Kalispell Regional Healthcare, said the state remains second-to-last in the nation for screening for the disease. Sheldon receives patients from around Montana and said he also has noticed an increase in diagnoses.

“I think Montana has shown that having a colon cancer screening rate around 57 percent is not enough to impact the number of cases,” he said.

Kalispell Regional, primary-care providers and other are health-care workers have joined with national organizations to increase colorectal cancer screening rates. Their goal is to have 80 percent of adults 50 and older regularly screened by 2018.

The campaign kicked off the first week of March as a part of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Sheldon said the effort would focus on reaching people who don’t realize the procedure can save lives.

“If we were to do a colonoscopy for every person every year, we would never have colon cancer — but that’s not practical,” Sheldon said. “We’re just asking people to talk to their doctors about getting screened or, if something concerning shows up, get a diagnostic test.”

Robert Brown never had signs of cancer — blood in his stool, constantly feeling tired or a change in bowel movements. At 59 years old, Brown said he hadn’t felt the need to go to a doctor for 10 years.

But when Tim Russert, host of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” died of a heart attack at 58, Brown decided he was overdue for a checkup.

“This doctor right out of college walks in the room and says I have Stage 2 cancer,” Brown said. “I felt like a deer in headlights. One day I’m watching Russert and then I’m going in for surgery.”

Dr. Nicholas Costrini, director of gastroenterology for Kalispell Regional Healthcare, said stories like Brown’s are too common.

“Montana is so spread out, it can be hard to get the message out about getting screened,” Costrini said. “People don’t go to the doctor unless something is wrong and, for this cancer, that can be too late.”

Nationwide, half of people who don’t get screened say it was because their primary care physician never talked to them about it, according to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Another 25 percent said they couldn’t afford it — even though insurance companies are required to cover the screenings under the Affordable Care Act.

Costrini said people also often avoid screenings because they view them as uncomfortable and inconvenient.

“But about 80 percent of patients will have a totally normal exam — it’s the 20 percent that we’re trying to find,” he said.

Doctors told Marc Rold of Kalispell that his cancer had been developing for six years before he developed symptoms.

“Even when I turned 50, I thought like many people, ‘I’m healthy, why would I bother?’” Rold said. “Then I was 56 and something was wrong.”

Rold started seeing the signs in July 2014. But he was uninsured and, as the owner of Wild Horse Limousine, it was busy season. He put off going to the doctor, hoping something would change. Rold is one of those cases doctors can’t predict.

“There’s no history of cancer in my family whatsoever and I’ve lived healthy,” he said. “There was just a cell somewhere in my body that said, ‘Let’s mutate,’ and off it went.”

Rold went in for a diagnostic test in September and was told within an hour he had Stage 2 cancer.

Since treatment, has been cancer-free for 15 months, but still gets checked regularly and said he has another four years before he’s sure the cancer is gone for good.

Rold said if he had gone to his doctor at 50, he wouldn’t have 14 inches of his colon missing. He wouldn’t struggle with memory loss, or still sometimes have rectal bleeding from the months of radiation he faced.

“Getting checked is nothing — absolutely nothing — compared to what happens if you get diagnosed with this cancer,” Rold said.

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at khoughton@dailyinterlake.com.