James Van Der Beek, who shared his diagnosis of stage three colon cancer last week said he was “shocked” to learn of his condition, finding it the trickiest thing he ever faced. The Dawson’s Creek star said he began his treatment for this cancer – which spreads aggressively. Colon cancer is the third most common non-skin cancer in both men and women and the second leading cause of cancer death in the US.
“I found it helpful and cathartic to share things publicly,” said Van Der Beek adding he wanted to raise awareness about this cancer, in an interview with People magazine. Van Der Beek’s first symptoms were bowel changes Sharing his first symptoms, the 47-year-old actor said like many colon cancer patients he noticed changes to his bowel movements last year, which he initially thought were caused by drinking coffee, but the irregularities persisted. “When I cut that out and it didn’t improve, I thought, ‘All right, I better get this checked out,’” he said.
James later underwent a colonoscopy, which confirmed the cancer. According to experts, most symptoms of colorectal cancer begin as growths known as polyps in the colon or the rectum and can spread into the walls of those areas over time. Rates of colon cancer in people under 55 years of age like Van Der Beek have been increasing by 1-2 per cent every year since the mid-1990s, the American Cancer Society says.
“The trickiest thing is there are so many unknowns with cancer,” Van Der Beek said. Earl.