More than 51,000 people will die this year from one of the most preventable forms of cancer.
That's what the aim of colon cancer awareness month is all about.
Colon cancer is the third most common cancer in the United States.
But it is also one of the most preventable and easiest to cure, if it's detected early.
Colon cancer month raises awareness of the simplicity and ease of a colonoscopy, the screening test for colon cancer.
Colonoscopies are typically recommended for those 50 and older.
Doctor A.J. Magana at Regional West Medical Center says new technology has made colonoscopies not as bad as people may think.
"The procedure itself is pretty benign... it sounds bad, but we sedate people," Magana said. "Although there are a few people that will actually do it wide awake, they don't even know it happened."
Magana says with the advent of colon cancer awareness month, colon cancer diagnoses have dropped almost 20 percent.
