Last month, Deadpool & Wolverine actor Ryan Reynolds took to X to share a video of himself getting a colonoscopy. It’s a procedure he documented in partnership with the Colorectal Cancer Alliance’s Lead From Behind initiative as a way of spreading awareness about the importance of having regular screenings for colorectal cancer -the third most common cancer in the United States
The American Cancer Society recommends getting screened for colorectal cancer once you hit 45 – the age Reynolds was when he had the procedure done. In the full video of Reynolds’ colonoscopy screening, gastroenterologist Jonathan LaPook tells Reynolds that while carrying out the procedure, he discovered and removed a small growth of tissue that had been on the right side of Reynolds’ colon, which could have become cancerous had it not been caught early. Finding and removing the tissue, he explains to the actor, “was potentially lifesaving for you.”
Reynolds isn’t alone as colorectal cancer has a greater than 90% survival rate with early detection. Despite this, 80% of people ages 45-49 are not getting screened. “We have not optimized early detection as much as we need to in order to prevent colorectal cancer,” says Dr. John Marshall, chief medical consultant of the Colorectal Cancer Alliance and the clinical director of oncology for Georgetown University Hospital in Washington DC.
The reason screenings are so important, he explains, is that it can take 10 to 15 years for abnormal cell tissue to develop into colorectal cancer once after formation has begun in the colon or rectum. These clumps of cells, called polyps, can be discovered by any number of tests that are doctor recommended based on a person’s age and other risk factors including a family history of colorectal cancer and lifestyle factors such as smoking, diet, and physical activity levels.
Preventative screenings can be done via a virtual colonoscopy – where a CT scanner takes an x-ray image of the colon and rectum from outside of the body; or through stool-based testing – where a stool sample is collected at home and sent to a doctor’s office for examination.
But the screening procedure Reynolds had done was a colonoscopy, “which remains the gold standard for diagnosis and detection,” says Marshall.
It’s a procedure that typically only takes 30-60 minutes to complete and is done by having a flexible tube entered through the patient’s anus and into the colon. Air is then pumped in to make it easier to see inside. A camera at the end of the tube scans for polyps and abnormalities and the tube can also be used to perform a biopsy or remove any discovered polyps. The patient is asleep during the procedure and takes a laxative prior to entering the hospital to make sure their bowels are empty.
While colorectal cancer survivability remains very high in patients who have abnormal tissue discovered through early screenings, Marshall says such rates “fall off dramatically in stage III and stage IV.” Research shows the five-year survival rates for patients with stage IV colorectal cancer is less than 10%.
“150,000 new cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed every year in the United States,” says Marshall, “and more than two million new cases are diagnosed annually worldwide.”
