Colorectal cancer has a better PR problem than almost any other major cancer. Most people know they’re supposed to get screened. Many don’t know the age has changed. Almost nobody knows that when it’s caught early, the survival rate is over 90%. And a concerning number of people in Queens, Bayside, and across Long Island are delaying a 30-minute procedure that could literally save their lives.
At The Gastroenterology Practice, Dr. Mit Shah and Dr. Davinder Singh have seen this pattern from both sides — the patients who came in on schedule and left with peace of mind or an early finding that was easily addressed, and the patients who waited and presented with something that was significantly harder to treat. Both doctors have the kind of training that positions this practice to offer exceptional care: Dr. Shah serves as Chief of GI at Flushing Hospital Medical Center and completed his fellowship in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Nassau University Medical Center. Dr. Singh trained at the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic — two of the world’s most prestigious medical institutions — where he led innovative endoscopy research and trained the next generation of gastroenterologists.
Here is what you need to know about colorectal cancer, why the statistics are more important than most people realize, and why the colonoscopy conversation is worth having now.
The Age for Screening Has Changed — Most People Don’t Know It
In 2021, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force officially lowered the recommended age for colorectal cancer screening from 50 to 45 for average-risk individuals. The American Cancer Society had recommended 45 even earlier. This isn’t a minor administrative update — it’s a response to a documented and alarming trend in colorectal cancer incidence in adults under 50.
Colorectal cancer rates in people under 50 have been increasing for decades. The reason for this increase is not fully understood, but the pattern is clear and consistent across multiple data sources. Young adults in their 30s and 40s are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer at higher rates than the previous generation, and a significant driver of poor outcomes in this group is late diagnosis — partly because the prevailing assumption is that this is “an older person’s cancer” and screening hasn’t been on anyone’s radar.
If you turned 45 and haven’t had your first colonoscopy conversation with a gastroenterologist, you are now in the eligible screening population — regardless of how healthy you feel.
The Survival Statistics Change Everything About How You Should Think About Screening
Colorectal cancer is one of the most preventable and most detectable cancers in existence. The five-year survival rate for colorectal cancer detected at a localized stage — before it has spread beyond the original site — is approximately 91%. The five-year survival rate for colorectal cancer detected at a distant stage, after it has spread to other organs, is approximately 14%.
That gap is not subtle. It’s the difference between a highly curable cancer and a devastating one. And the entire gap is explained by one factor: when the cancer was found.
Colonoscopy is the only major cancer screening that doesn’t just detect cancer early — it actually prevents it. Colorectal cancers develop from polyps, benign growths on the lining of the colon that can be removed during the same procedure in which they’re found. A polyp removed during a colonoscopy is a cancer that never developed. This is what makes colonoscopy unique in the cancer screening landscape and what makes the patient who is avoiding the procedure paying a risk that isn’t fully captured by survival statistics alone.
About 150,000 Americans Are Diagnosed Each Year — and Many Are Asymptomatic
The American Cancer Society estimates approximately 150,000 new colorectal cancer diagnoses in the United States annually, making it the second leading cause of cancer death in the country. What most people don’t know is that early-stage colorectal cancer frequently produces no symptoms at all.
No blood in the stool. No change in bowel habits. No pain. The polyp or early cancer is present, growing, and eventually progressing — while the patient goes about their life feeling entirely normal. The symptoms that people commonly associate with colorectal issues — rectal bleeding, changes in stool caliber, persistent abdominal pain, unexplained weight loss — often appear when the disease has already advanced beyond early stages.
This is the essential argument for screening before symptoms: the screening colonoscopy finds what the patient can’t feel and the patient doesn’t know is there. Waiting for symptoms is a significant gamble with unfavorable odds.
New York’s Colorectal Cancer Burden Is Real
New York State, including Queens, Long Island, and Nassau County, carries a meaningful colorectal cancer burden. The demographic diversity of Queens in particular — a community that includes populations with specific risk factors including higher rates of obesity, dietary patterns associated with colorectal cancer risk, and in some communities, higher genetic susceptibility to colorectal cancer — makes access to expert GI care in this community specifically important.
The Gastroenterology Practice’s two locations — in Bayside, Queens and in Levittown — are positioned specifically to serve this community. Dr. Shah has deep roots in the Nassau County and Queens medical community through his leadership at Flushing Hospital, and Dr. Singh’s technical expertise means that patients receive not just a colonoscopy but a colonoscopy performed by a physician with advanced endoscopic training from the top GI programs in the country.
AI-Assisted Colonoscopy: Why Technology Changes What Gets Found
The Gastroenterology Practice offers AI-assisted colonoscopy — a significant advancement in the quality of colonoscopy that not all practices have adopted. The integration of artificial intelligence into the colonoscopy procedure provides real-time analysis of the colon lining during the exam, flagging potential polyps that might be missed by visual inspection alone.
This matters because the adenoma detection rate — the percentage of colonoscopies that detect at least one adenoma (the type of polyp most likely to progress to cancer) — is one of the strongest predictors of colonoscopy effectiveness. Studies have shown that AI assistance can increase adenoma detection rates by 14 to 50%, depending on the population and the technology used. A colonoscopy that finds and removes more polyps is a colonoscopy that provides more cancer protection.
Patients who receive their colonoscopy at The Gastroenterology Practice aren’t just getting the procedure. They’re getting the procedure with an additional layer of detection technology that improves the probability that anything present is found.
Schedule Your Colonoscopy at The Gastroenterology Practice
Dr. Mit Shah, Dr. Davinder Singh, and the team at The Gastroenterology Practice serve patients throughout Queens, Nassau County, and Long Island at two convenient offices: 222-15 Northern Boulevard, 4th Floor in Bayside, Queens (phone: 718-224-1642) and in Levittown. Most major insurance plans are accepted. If you are 45 or older and have not had a colonoscopy, or if you have symptoms of digestive concern — rectal bleeding, unexplained changes in bowel habits, abdominal pain, or persistent bloating — the appointment that addresses it starts here.
This blog is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Colonoscopy recommendations depend on individual risk factors and should be discussed with a board-certified gastroenterologist based on your personal health history.
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