Colon Cancer is Third-Leading Cause of Cancer-Related Deaths in the U.S.

As part of Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month in March, doctors are seeking out ways to warn the public of the dangers of the third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S.

An estimated 132,700 new cases and 49,700 deaths are expected in 2015 in the U.S. Data from the past decade show that both incidence and mortality from colon cancer are decreasing at rate of about 3% per year, largely due to the increased use of screening, according to a study published in Wiley.. Still, fewer than six in ten U.S. adults (58%) aged 50 to 75 years had received guideline-recommended testing in 2013.

"Unfortunately with many cancers we don't have good screening tools. We have good screening tools in colon cancer," said Dr. Jonathan C. Saxe, a gastroenterologist at Dayton Gastroenterology, according to the Fairborn Daily Herald. "In colon cancer, although our tests are not perfect, we have tools that have been able to decrease the death rates from colon cancer."

The cancer society is pushing an initiative in which 80 percent of adults 50 and older get regularly screened by 2018.

The partnership with the health center builds on this goal by helping eliminate barriers to colon cancer screening. That effort relies on a $6.4 million gift to the cancer society from the Walgreens Way to Well Commitment.