Cancer News, Treatment and Research

Only cancer you can prevent with a test Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb’s death at age 62 casts a spotlight on the disease. How to cut your risk by 90% Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb, 62, died on Sunday after a harrowing battle with colon cancer that spread to his liver. Despite aggressive chemotherapy and two emergency operations in the past two months, the disco star—remembered for hit songs from “Stayin’ Alive” and “Saturday Night Fever”—developed brain swelling due to liver failure, and pneumonia. He slipped into a coma, waking briefly on May 21 after his family spent days singing to him at his bedside. What makes the six-time Grammy winner’s death especially tragic is that colon cancer is largely preventable with regular screening. In fact, it’s the only form of cancer that can be both detected AND treated with a single screening test. Here’s a look at the medical story behind Gibb’s passing, along with important information about a colon cancer test that saves lives. Robin Gibb: He ‘Started a Joke’ and Left Us in Tears A Silent Killer Also known as colorectal cancer, colon cancer typically doesn’t have any early warning signs. As happened with Gibb, many patients aren’t diagnosed until the disease spreads to other organs (in his case, the disease had spread to the liver, indicating stage 4 of the disease, which is often rapidly fatal even with aggressive treatment). Colon cancer affects the large intestines (colon) and can extend to the last few inches called the rectum …