![\"Baskara\"](\"http:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Baskara.jpg\")
<\/a>Baskara<\/p><\/div>Dr. Arun Baskara, UT assistant professor of surgery, tried to persuade those people that avoiding a colonoscopy could be a bad idea when he talked about colon cancer earlier this month in the Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center.<\/p>\n
The lecture was part of the Tie One On Awareness Lecture Series hosted by UT Health\u2019s Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrevention is better than trying to treat colon cancer,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople should get their colonoscopy at age 50 if they don\u2019t have any family history. If colon cancer runs in the family, the screening may change based on what age the family member had colon cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to create an awareness in the community about colon cancer,\u201d Baskara said. \u201cIt is common cancer that we come across in the community. If we can catch it at an early stage, the prognosis is good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baskara understands that people can be scared or possibly embarrassed about getting a colonoscopy, so he talks to his patients about the fear and reassures them about the procedure. <\/p>\n
\u201cI make sure that my patients are asleep so they don\u2019t feel or remember anything,\u201d
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
But the benefits of a colonoscopy should outweigh any trepidation on the patient\u2019s part, he said.
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\n\u201cCertain cancers behave in a certain way, whether it is in the right side of the colon or left side of the colon,\u201d Baskara said. \u201cSome patients will have symptoms early; some patients won\u2019t have any symptoms at all until the cancer grows larger. The colonoscopy will help because cancer doesn\u2019t happen just like that. It starts as a polyp and then it can change into cancer. If we start picking it up at the polyp stage, we can prevent it from advancing to the cancer stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
The free, public Tie One On Cancer Awareness Lecture Series will continue this summer and fall. Upcoming Thursday lectures will be:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Aug. 20 \u2014 Dr. Krishna Reddy, UT assistant professor of radiation oncology, will discuss radiation oncology as a cancer treatment option.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Sept. 17 \u2014 Dr. Samay Jain, UT assistant professor and chief of the Division of Urologic Oncology, will discuss prostate cancer. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Oct. 15 \u2014 Dr. Iman Mohamed, UT professor and chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology, will discuss lymphedema. <\/p>\n
Each person who attends the lecture will be entered into a drawing for tickets to an upcoming sporting event or a gift certificate for spa services. <\/p>\n