Michael Blake

Michael Blake had good intentions when it came to being screened for colon cancer. At age 60, he knew he was at increased risk for the disease, and it had been 10 years since his last colon exam. Three times, Blake made an appointment for a colonoscopy at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. "My wife had been on me to get checked," he says, "but I always found some reason not to get there."

Truth be told, Blake says, he was avoiding the procedure because of the discomfort associated with an invasive examination of the bowel. "I'm a little bit chicken about that kind of stuff," says Blake, a real estate broker. In addition, Blake found it difficult to justify going through all the trouble when he did not have symptoms of colon trouble nor family history of the disease.

Then he read about the so-called virtual colonoscopy, a non-invasive procedure to detect colon cancers and polyps. Known at Mayo as computerized tomographic (CT) colonography, virtual colonoscopy produces three-dimensional images of the colon without the need to insert a probe into the lower half of the digestive tract.

Blake, who had been a patient at Mayo Clinic since he moved to Rochester in 1999, called to inquire about CT colonography. The more he learned, the better it sounded. Mayo Clinic is a world leader in CT colonography, having performed more exams than any other institution. Currently, Mayo Clinic performs about 1,000 CT colonographies per year.

Blake decided to make another appointment and this time he made good on it. The day before the exam, Blake was required to drink a gallon of a special liquid designed to help clear the bowel. The same preparation is required for traditional colonoscopy. The exam is done on an outpatient basis. The patient lies down on a table that slides into the CT scanner. In less than 10 minutes, the scanner has all the information needed to compile detailed images of the colon.

A few hours after his exam, Blake met with C. Daniel Johnson, M.D., a Mayo Clinic radiologist. Dr. Johnson showed Blake images of two polyps. Left untreated, they could have developed into cancers.

Dr. Johnson recommended that Blake have the polyps removed immediately with a traditional colonoscopy and sent him to the nearby Endoscopy Unit to have it done. Blake left the hospital later that afternoon.

Dr. Johnson and his colleagues believe that all potentially harmful growths in Blake's colon were removed that day. Blake says doctors have advised him he will not need another screening for about five years. When that time comes, he says he will not hesitate.

"The virtual colonoscopy is a great way to do it," he says. "If it hadn't been for that, I probably would not have gone."