colon cancer symptom : County in colon cancer report

When Jim Warren turned 50, his doctor suggested he undergo a routine colonoscopy even though he received a clean bill of health on his annual physical. Believing he was in good shape, Warren decided to forgo the procedure.

"I was just so darn healthy, I said, "You don't really have to rush into it,'" Warren said.

Four years later, Warren noticed blood in his stool and immediately went to his doctor. Test results revealed Warren had Stage 4 colon cancer, which had metastasize into other areas of his body.

Through rigorous and oftentimes painful chemotherapy, Warren's cancer has been in remission for the past eight to nine months. Now 58, Warren, a business manager for an entertainment company in Burbank, said he regrets his decision to put off the colon cancer screening procedure.

"When you think you're healthy, you're not looking for trouble, and I thought it was something minor," he said. "I still don't know how long the tumor was there because I didn't feel anything."

Third-most common cancer

Warren is not alone. Colon cancer is the third-most common cancer and third-leading cause of cancer-related death among men and women in California. According to a report released today by the American Cancer Society California Division and the California Dialog on Cancer, more than 70 percent of cancer cases in 17 communities in the state were diagnosed at an advanced stage. In Ventura County, about 67 percent of colon cancers diagnosed in Oxnard and Port Hueneme were at an advanced stage.

Doctors, medical researchers and healthcare administrators will meet today at the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina for the two-day "Dialog for Action" conference, where they will discuss the data and possible reasons for the prevalence of colon cancer in certain areas. The data include information collected by the California Cancer Registry and provide maps of areas where colon cancer cases were diagnosed from 1999 to 2003. A full report will be released in the fall, said Dr. Janet Bates, California Cancer Registry research program director.

By Marjorie Hernandez