Colon cancer is one of the most preventable cancers. Studies suggest that timely colonoscopy could prevent between 76 percent and 90 percent of all cases. Although colon cancer death rates are falling in New York City, colon cancer still kills about 1,400 New Yorkers every year. Many of these deaths could have been prevented if more people had colonoscopies starting at age 50 (or 40 for those with a family history of colon cancer).

A diagnostic colonoscopy is done when a patient has symptoms that indicate the need to rule out polyps or colon cancer. A screening colonoscopy is done for early detection and treatment to prevent colon cancer, before a patient shows symptoms of the disease.

The information presented here shows that over a six-year period (2003-2008), nearly 112,000 New Yorkers had a diagnostic or screening colonoscopy at an HHC hospital. Through city-wide colon cancer awareness campaigns HHC has aggressively urged New Yorkers who are 50 and over to get a colonoscopy. HHC tracks the number of colonoscopies that are done each year, as a way to monitor our outreach efforts to ensure that patients are screened according to national recommendations. Between Fiscal Year 2003 and Fiscal Year 2008, the annual number of people tested in public hospitals increased by more than 76 percent, from 11,829 to 20,229; the number of screening procedures nearly tripled, from 4,585 to 12,213; the number of patients with pre-cancerous polyps removed increased by more than 91 percent, from 1,746 to 3,636.

Diagnostic and Screening Colonoscopies
2003 - 2008

Hospital-Specific Data

Patients with Colon Polyps Removed
2003 - 2008

Hospital-Specific Data