Arizona Cancer Center Welcomes 'Super Colon'

Super Colon

Inside the Super Colon.

By Ilya Sloan, Arizona Cancer Center February 25, 2008

Visitors can learn the importance of colorectal cancer prevention by walking through the free exhibit.

The Super Colon, an 8-foot-tall, 20-foot-long replica of a human colon, is headed to the Arizona Cancer Center on March 3 in recognition of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.

The Super Colon travels across the country, serving as an educational tool to teach the importance of colorectal cancer screening. Colorectal cancer is 90 percent preventable and successfully treated 90 percent of the time when detected early, yet it remains a leading cause of cancer deaths.

The Super Colon is an incredible inflatable, interactive colon that teaches people about the risks, symptoms, prevention, early detection and treatment options for colorectal cancer. As visitors walk through the Super Colon, they get a close-up look at healthy tissue, tissue with non-malignant colorectal diseases, as well as tissue with various stages of colorectal cancer.

The Arizona Cancer Center and University Medical Center will also present an “Ask the Doctor” session from 10:30 a.m. to noon on March 3. Experts from the Arizona Cancer Center will discuss the latest information on colorectal cancer research, prevention, screening and therapy and will answer questions from the audience.

The national 2008 Super Colon Tour will make stops in Philadelphia, Houston, Chicago, New York and Omaha, Neb., among other cities, during the year. The Super Colon is sponsored by pharmaceutical company sanofi-aventis.

The tour is a project of the Prevent Cancer Foundation, whose mission is cancer prevention and early detection through research, education and community outreach to all populations, including children and the underserved.

The Arizona Cancer Center is the state’s premier National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. With primary locations at The University of Arizona in Tucson and in Scottsdale, the center has more than a dozen research and education offices throughout the state and 300 physician and scientist members working to prevent and cure cancer.

Et Cetera