Sunil Gandhi, MD, FACP

Almost all colon cancers start with a benign growth, called polyp. A colonoscopy helps detects polyps and removes them—thus it helps prevent cancer, rather than just detect early stages, like mammograms.

Correcting obesity not only reduces the risks of cancer recurrence, but also can help to reduce cardiovascular mortality and decrease the risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.

Every cancer is different and so, the rapidity with which it progresses differs. For example, colorectal cancer is typically slow-growing, while small cell lung cancer is extremely fast-growing and can double in weeks to a month.