NEW YORK CITY, New York (WABC) — March is colorectal cancer awareness month, and it’s especially important to get checked, as it is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States.
Disney’s Vice President of Entertainment Brand Solutions and colorectal cancer survivor Mitch Gubin and Dr. Nicholas Hornstein, a medical oncologist at Lenox Hill Hospital, sat down with Eyewitness News anchor Pedro Rivera to discuss the importance of getting checked for colorectal cancer on Mornings @ 10.
Gubin began by recounting his experience with colorectal cancer in 2023, stating he had no family history of it and dismissed the infrequent blood he had when he went to the bathroom.
“I also knew at 45, the guidelines changed and they recommended a colonoscopy,” Gubin said. “It coincided with the right timing of it.”
Gubin said he was eventually diagnosed with stage one, and he caught it very early. The whole point of screening, Hornstein said, is for cases like Gubin’s.
“When people engage with health care professionals, and they get screening, we see this more often,” Hornstein said. “If they don’t, we tend to see things later when they may be harder to treat.”
At any age, Hornstein advises people to watch out for symptoms of severe constipation, blood in stool, and thinning of stool, as it may be time to get checked.
“This can be for any age—someone in their 20s, someone in their 60s–cancer doesn’t really care how old you are,” Hornstein said.
After his diagnosis, Gubin said he was lucky to only need minimally invasive surgery and was home a couple of days after, but between getting diagnosed, having surgery, going to appointments, having scans and blood drawn, it took an emotional toll as he learned what people go through when they receive chemo and radiation.
“I know a lot of the time people are concerned about prep for a colonoscopy but I always say it’s about 18 hours of prep, which is not awful, somewhat a little uncomfortable, but it’s way better than having nine months or so of chemo and radiation and the toll it takes on you and your family and friends,” Gubin said.
Bouncing off Gubin, Hornstein emphasized colorectal cancer becoming the number one deadliest form of cancer in patients under the age of 50 as of this year.
“If we catch it early, you can go, do surgery, it’s out, you moved on,” Hornstein said. “The earlier we catch it, the easier it is to treat,” Hornstein said.
When someone is experiencing symptoms, Hornstein said, you need to tell your doctor and to tell them again until they listen.
“I hear all the time of people coming in and saying, ‘Hey, I’ve had these symptoms for a year or two years and somebody just said it was constipation or something else,’ so be vocal, make sure your doctor knows about your symptoms and is taking them seriously,” Hornstein said.
Gubin said he’s sharing his story because he thinks a lot of people won’t get a colonoscopy because they think they don’t have any symptoms, so they may not need to get it.
“I know people who wait until they’re 50 even though the guidelines say 45, so I think it’s so important because of what I experienced and what I did not experience because I did catch it early, and so that’s really my mission–to help get as many people screened as possible,” Gubin said.
Last year, Gubin created the ‘Kicking Colon Cancer’s Butt’ kickball fundraiser, presented by Northwell Cancer Institute, which had over 100 participants and raised $17,000 for the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, the biggest colorectal cancer nonprofit with the goal to eradicate cancer through Project CRC to speed up research to find a cure.
“The goal is to bring survivors, caregivers, community members, leaders–everybody affected by this some way or another–to come together and do something fun,” Gubin said.
The event is on May 16 at Mitchell Field in Uniondale, Nassau County. It runs from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. You can sign up at impact.ccalliance.org/kccb.
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