"Cancer rates among American Indians and especially those in Minnesota and the northern Plains are skyrocketing, and it should be a wake-up call for Indian people to take heed.

On Wednesday, the American Cancer Society released the first large-scale national study about cancer rates of American Indians and Alaska Natives. The study indicated that those living in Minnesota and the surrounding northern Plains have a 39 percent higher rate of colorectal cancer than non-Hispanic whites.

That’s bad enough, but further studies indicate that American Indians in our region have a 197 percent higher rate of liver cancer, 135 percent higher rate of stomach cancer and 148 percent higher rate of gallbladder cancer than non-Hispanic whites.

That’s several cancers right on our doorstep.

A few weeks ago, a close relative told me she was diagnosed with colon cancer. She said she’d never had a colonoscopy, and she did the procedure only as a part of a routine physical exam.

The procedure looks for polyps in the colon. Many people have polyps, but few of the polyps are cancerous. Usually, all polyps that are found are removed, and they are examined for cancer cells."

Get the Story:
Dorreen Yellow Bird: Cancer screenings pay off (The Grand Forks Herald 8/23)
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