Trending: Colonoscopies? You Bet Your *ss
Summary: Data analytics company founder-turned colonoscopy champion Brooks Bell and Olympus Marketing VP Kurt Cannon were interviewed on the OlympusTalks podcast on the DeviceTalks platform about slaying stigmas, breaking colon cancer screening barriers, and the shared interests of industry and advocacy on screening and prevention of colorectal cancer.
Brooks Bell wants people to “feel and look cool” through self-expression with her Worldcl*ss Clothing apparel line. Colonoscopy couture may sound like a stretch, but Bell is all about colorectal cancer (CRC) awareness, and she’s the queen of puns when it comes to talking about buns to destigmatize the conversation. “We all have colons,” she said in a recent OlympusTalks podcast. “Cancer is something that people are universally afraid of, so if you can prevent it, that’s very empowering.” She spoke of colonoscopies as a means of CRC prevention with fellow guest Kurt Cannon, Vice President of Endoscopy Marketing at Olympus, engaging in a discussion of self-empowerment, risk-factor awareness, and related issues at the intersection of advocacy and industry.
Bell sounding on advocacy
Bell explains how she was the founder and CEO of a data analytics company 16 years in the running. At the age of 38, she noticed blood in her stool and sought medical care. Because she was under the recommended CRC screening age of 45,1 “I had to kind of fight to get a colonoscopy,” she recalled. Bell has previously shared her stage 3 cancer diagnosis and struggle to be heard by healthcare professionals.
Hear what Bell did next, and how her cancer journey turned into advocacy.
If getting a colonoscopy is a supply and demand issue, Bell wants to “move the needle,” she explains. “I was thinking the demand problem is where I can have the greatest impact.” Getting people to want a colonoscopy is the driving force of her clothing line and her advocacy efforts. But she also touches on supply issues in the form of healthcare providers, insurers, and an overall lack of awareness on age and other CRC risk factors. Some of her concerns bear out in the data.
Screening age, younger patients
“I think it’s critical for people to understand that the screening age used to be 50, and several years ago [May 2021] it was changed to 45 because [researchers] found that they could find more early cancers if they started at 45,”2 explains Cannon. The American Cancer Society (ACS) recommends that patients at average risk of colorectal cancer begin screening at age 45, but that people with a family history or certain bowel conditions may need to begin screening earlier. ACS recommends discussing risk factors and health concerns with a healthcare professional.1
Brooks Bell, Colon Cancer Screening Advocate and Co-founder of Worldclass Clothing, an apparel brand that promotes colonoscopies.
Kurt Cannon, Vice President of Endoscopy Marketing, Olympus Corporation
One alarming trend discussed on the podcast is the shift of younger individuals developing CRC. ACS statistics show that one in five CRC cases (20%) are found in patients 54 years of age and younger, an 11% rise from 1995.3 In addition, Cannon noted that CRC risk rates are disproportionately higher for African Americans: ACS found that this population is 20% more likely to develop CRC and 40% more likely to die from CRC.4
Industry and advocacy
Cannon, who has worked in the GI endoscopy field for 25 years, reflected on the changing tides of medtech. “Corporations in this industry, like Olympus, have opened themselves up to being part of the global conversation, and not just working with physicians,” but “pushing the narrative out into the general public.” In the past, “we just tried to serve the customers, the doctors,” but “it’s actually very holistic now,” said Cannon, noting that Olympus has partnered with patient advocacy groups in several of its business units.
Golden age of endoscopy
Kurt Cannon, VP of Endoscopy Marketing at Olympus, recalls a time more than two decades ago when endoscopy could be described as the “golden age” for its cutting-edge technology incorporating cameras and endoscopes. Now, “it’s a different generation of physicians [yet] the desire to innovate and push for new therapeutic treatments is there,” he told the DeviceTalks podcast host.
Hear Cannon discuss how Olympus® EVIS X1™ endoscopy system is part of the new ‘golden age’ of endoscopy
All in the family
Cannon has been vocal on the advocacy front in Transforming Trepidation: A Medtech Leader’s Colonoscopy Experience, where he stresses the importance of family history. “These are hard conversations to have,” he acknowledged in the OlympusTalks podcast. “But regardless of who you are and what your background is, people need to start becoming comfortable with asking questions of their parents and their grandparents.” Bell adds that the questions shouldn’t just be about CRC, but even polyp history in those who have had colonoscopies.
‘A fast, a cleanse, and a nap’
Of course, a colonoscopy is the only CRC screening method that uncovers polyps, Bell stresses. “I think there's so much fear around getting colonoscopies and it's because conceptually…the idea is uncomfortable.” But “part of what we're trying to do is to focus on the empowerment of a colonoscopy,” she adds. As for the exam itself: “The way we talk about it is; it’s a fast, a cleanse, and a nap. And a day off…You feel great.”
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Brooks Bell is a paid endorser of Olympus Corporation, its subsidiaries, and/or its affiliates.
The content of the podcast referenced herein was paid for by Olympus.
References
1. Cancer.org. American Cancer Society Guideline for Colorectal Cancer Screening. Cancer Screening Guidelines. Revised January 29, 2024. Accessed March 13, 2025.
2. Carethers JM. Commencing colorectal cancer screening at age 45 years in U.S. racial groups. Front Oncol. 2022 Jul 22;12:966998. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.966998. PMID: 35936740; PMCID: PMC9354692.
3. Cancer.org. American Cancer Society Colorectal Cancer Facts & Figures 2023-2025. Accessed March 13, 2025.
4. Cancer.org. Colorectal Cancer Rates Higher in African Americans, Rising in Younger People. Published September 3, 2020. Accessed March 13, 2025.