Colorectal cancer is not a common topic of conversation, but it is a fairly common type of cancer. Excluding skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third most frequently diagnosed type of cancer in the United States.

To encourage screening for the disease, Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake is offering free EZ DETECT colon cancer kits* during the month of March, which is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. For your free kit, call 866-764-3627. Limit two kits per household, please. Kits are available while supplies last.

The American Cancer Society recommends that adults be screened for the disease starting at age 50.

“Most people with colorectal cancer do not know they have the disease because they have no symptoms until the cancer reaches an advanced stage,” Kurt Lange, M.D., gastroenterologist on the medical staff at Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake, said. “That is why it is so important to be screened for colorectal cancer. Fortunately, it can be treated when detected early.”

According to the American Cancer Society, there will be an estimated 103,000 new cases of colon cancer and 40,000 new cases of rectal cancer diagnosed this year.

The EZ-detect kit is simple, sanitary and easy to use in the privacy of home.

• $7.99 retail value. This test does not replace a colonoscopy. It serves as a preliminary screening designed to detect warning signs of colorectal cancer.