Researchers have revealed 5 frightening facts.

1. Cancer is the 2nd-leading cause of death in the US.

2. Colon cancer is the 4th-leading cause of cancer deaths.

3. Cancer claims 150,000 victims and 50,000 of them die annually.

4. Black men are disproportionately affected by it.

5. Colon cancer has become a crisis in much of the country.

And when its victims get care, it’s often too little, too late.

Pamela Courtney and Dr. Steven Lloyd of the Colonoscopy Center in Columbia say part of the problem is the social stigma among black men about going to a doctor.

The prevailing attitude is: “I don’t like going to doctors, so I just will not go.”

Another factor is not getting a colonoscopy starting at age 50. It is recommended that black men start at age 45.

There-in lies another problem – most insurance will not pay for a colonoscopy until age 50.

For people predisposed to colon cancer, the extra 5 years could mean life or death.

What can be done

They say prevention is the best medicine.

For those at risk of colon cancer, a colonoscopy is the best bet for catching it early.

Far too many people cannot afford to pay out of pocket for a colonoscopy.

Because of this, the compliance rate for getting screened for colon cancer by black men is far below that of white men.

Courtney and Dr. Lloyd said the colon cancer death rate could drop by 80% if everyone had regular colonoscopies.

But even if they did, some – especially Black and Hispanic people – often receive substandard care from doctors. Not all colonoscopies are performed correctly. An estimated 25,000 people have died from inaccurate or inferior colonoscopies.

Data on deaths from inferior colonoscopies is difficult to find because many medical practices and hospitals will not identify doctors who have a higher-than-normal number of deaths attributed to their procedures. They will only give out the number for their entire staff.

Pap smears have almost eliminated deaths from cervical cancer, said Dr. Lloyd. And the same should be true of colon cancer. Death from it should be rare.

There are options available to people who can’t pay for the colonoscopy. One is the FIT Test. While it is not meant to replace a colonoscopy, it can detect blood in one’s stool, a warning sign.

Another test is Colorgard. It can only detect existing cancer and costs $600.

$100 billion has been spent on cancer research, but little of it has gone to colon cancer research.