Jeanette Maus Passes from Colon Cancer
- Actress Jeanette Maus passed from colon cancer this week, following an 8-month battle with the disease.
- Maus, like 43-year-old actor Chadwick Boseman, was young when diagnosed; incidences of this disease in younger people have been rising over the past two decades.
- Risk factors for colon cancer include family history and alcohol consumption. Early symptoms of the disease may present as blood in your stool, or unexplained weight loss.
Actress Jeanette Maus passed away from colon cancer at the too-young age of 39, leaving so many to wonder why it seems like more and more people are succumbing to this particular disease so early in life. Maus’s fiance, Dusty Warren, penned a beautiful and heartfelt tribute to her. He wrote on Facebook: “It is with a shattered-yet grateful-heart that I inform you that Jeanette Maus passed away late last night due to complications of cancer. I’m really sad, but I’m super proud of her. She fought so hard, with tremendous grace and optimism, inspiring myself and I’m sure many of you.” Warren created a GoFundMe page for Maus, “Help Jeanette Kick Cancer’s Ass.”
Colorectal Cancer Is On The Rise in Young Adults — Here’s What We Know
Maus battled colon cancer for eight months and passed away from the disease on Sunday. She had also been diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, according to The Mirror. Last August, actor Chadwick Boseman also died of colon cancer. He was just 43 years old.
Related: Chadwick Boseman Honored On What Would Have Been His 44th Birthday With Tributes Fit for a King: ‘Black Panther’ Star Died of Colon Cancer in August
Boseman fought his cancer for four years and was diagnosed in 2016. At the time of his diagnosis, his cancer was stage three. We know that colorectal cancer occurrences are, in fact, on the rise. In a study published a few years ago, it was highlighted that the rate of this type of cancer in adults under age 50 is increasing. The study focused on European countries, but a similar increase has occurred in the U.S. over the past two decades.
Colon Cancer Risk Factors
Colon cancer risk factors include lifestyle and biological components. If there’s a history of colon cancer in your family, for instance, you may be at a higher risk for getting this disease, too. It has been called “crucial” to know your family history when it comes to cancer, particularly colon cancer, as this disease can be hereditary. Talk to your family about their cancer history, so you can take proactive steps to screen for this disease at an earlier age if needed.
Related: Why It’s Crucial to Know Your Family Health History — Today’s Craig Melvin Shares a Personal Colon Cancer Awareness Message
Lifestyle factors for elevated colon cancer risk may include things like alcohol consumption. Dr. Heather Yeo, a Colorectal Surgeon and Surgical Oncologist at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian, said in a previous interview with SurvivorNet, “…high levels of alcohol certainly predispose to a certain number of cancers, including pancreatic and liver cancer, and may predispose to colon cancer. But there’s also some data that shows that low levels of alcohol, or a glass of wine here and there, may actually lower your risk of colon cancer.”
Related: How Does a Colon Polyp Turn into Cancer?
Dr. Yeo advises moderation, not temperance. “What I generally tell my patients is that I think that moderation is important,” she said. “I think that, particularly for women, anything over a half a glass or a glass a day is probably not helping your overall health. For men, they can probably go one to two glasses before they start seeing health effects.”
Does Alcohol Impact the Risks for Colon and Other Cancers?
Screening for Colon Cancer
Colon cancer is screened for and typically detected via colonoscopy, which looks for polyps – small growths on the colon that may turn into cancer. Maus sadly passed away at an age that is younger than the recommended age (45) to begin screening for this disease. People with a family history of colon cancer should begin screening for it ten years prior to when a person in their family was diagnosed. For instance, if your uncle was diagnosed with colon cancer at 44, you should begin screening for it at age 34.
Related: Colon Cancer Screening is Extremely Important; Guidelines Now Say to Start at Age 45 if There Is No Family History
Dr. Yeo explained in an earlier interview, “Most patients get their diagnosis of colorectal cancer having had a colonoscopy. Either they have symptoms, so they’ve had blood in their stool, or they’ve had some weight loss and anemia, meaning their blood count is low. And they are sent for a colonoscopy.”
Related: Looking for Polyps During Colonoscopy
The colonoscopy is meant to detect any abnormalities or points of concern, said Dr. Yeo. “The colonoscopy often will show something abnormal. So it will show a mass. Sometimes, it shows a polyp that looks a little bit more abnormal. We want to review the actual specimen, what the biopsy piece. We want to look at that on the slides and actually see if we see that there’s clearly cancer there. Once we do that, then there’s a series of tests. We usually start with one blood test.”
Related: Colon Cancer Screening is Extremely Important; Guidelines Now Say to Start at Age 45 if There Is No Family History
Following bloodwork, other tests may be administered to check for cancer, said Dr. Yeo. “And then, we start with a CAT scan, usually the chest to the abdomen and pelvis if we’re sure that there’s a cancer there. And then, those things kind of tell us whether or not there’s a distant disease. So has it spread anywhere? And does it have big pieces in the lung or the liver, which are kind of the most common places that it would spread?”
Colon Cancer Diagnosis: What Happens After the Colonoscopy
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
Jeanette Maus Passes from Colon Cancer
- Actress Jeanette Maus passed from colon cancer this week, following an 8-month battle with the disease.
- Maus, like 43-year-old actor Chadwick Boseman, was young when diagnosed; incidences of this disease in younger people have been rising over the past two decades.
- Risk factors for colon cancer include family history and alcohol consumption. Early symptoms of the disease may present as blood in your stool, or unexplained weight loss.
Actress Jeanette Maus passed away from colon cancer at the too-young age of 39, leaving so many to wonder why it seems like more and more people are succumbing to this particular disease so early in life. Maus’s fiance, Dusty Warren, penned a beautiful and heartfelt tribute to her. He wrote on Facebook: “It is with a
shattered-yet grateful-heart that I inform you that Jeanette Maus passed away late last night due to complications of cancer. I’m really sad, but I’m super proud of her. She fought so hard, with tremendous grace and optimism, inspiring myself and I’m sure many of you.” Warren created a GoFundMe page for Maus, “
Help Jeanette Kick Cancer’s Ass.”
Colorectal Cancer Is On The Rise in Young Adults — Here’s What We Know
Read More Maus
battled colon cancer for eight months and passed away from the disease on Sunday. She had also been diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, according to
The Mirror. Last August, actor Chadwick Boseman also died of colon cancer. He was just 43 years old.
Related: Chadwick Boseman Honored On What Would Have Been His 44th Birthday With Tributes Fit for a King: ‘Black Panther’ Star Died of Colon Cancer in August
Boseman fought his cancer for four years and was diagnosed in 2016. At the time of his diagnosis, his cancer was stage three. We know that colorectal cancer occurrences are, in fact, on the rise. In a study published a few years ago, it was highlighted that the rate of this type of cancer in adults under age 50 is increasing. The study focused on European countries, but a similar increase has occurred in the U.S. over the past two decades.
Colon Cancer Risk Factors
Colon cancer risk factors include lifestyle and biological components. If there’s a history of colon cancer in your family, for instance, you may be at a higher risk for getting this disease, too. It has been called “crucial” to know your family history when it comes to cancer, particularly colon cancer, as this disease can be hereditary. Talk to your family about their cancer history, so you can take proactive steps to screen for this disease at an earlier age if needed.
Related: Why It’s Crucial to Know Your Family Health History — Today’s Craig Melvin Shares a Personal Colon Cancer Awareness Message
Lifestyle factors for elevated colon cancer risk may include things like alcohol consumption. Dr. Heather Yeo, a Colorectal Surgeon and Surgical Oncologist at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian, said in a previous interview with SurvivorNet, “…high levels of alcohol certainly predispose to a certain number of cancers, including pancreatic and liver cancer, and may predispose to colon cancer. But there’s also some data that shows that low levels of alcohol, or a glass of wine here and there, may actually lower your risk of colon cancer.”
Related: How Does a Colon Polyp Turn into Cancer?
Dr. Yeo advises moderation, not temperance. “What I generally tell my patients is that I think that moderation is important,” she said. “I think that, particularly for women, anything over a half a glass or a glass a day is probably not helping your overall health. For men, they can probably go one to two glasses before they start seeing health effects.”
Does Alcohol Impact the Risks for Colon and Other Cancers?
Screening for Colon Cancer
Colon cancer is screened for and typically detected via colonoscopy, which looks for polyps – small growths on the colon that may turn into cancer. Maus sadly passed away at an age that is younger than the recommended age (45) to begin screening for this disease. People with a family history of colon cancer should begin screening for it ten years prior to when a person in their family was diagnosed. For instance, if your uncle was diagnosed with colon cancer at 44, you should begin screening for it at age 34.
Related: Colon Cancer Screening is Extremely Important; Guidelines Now Say to Start at Age 45 if There Is No Family History
Dr. Yeo explained in an earlier interview, “Most patients get their diagnosis of colorectal cancer having had a colonoscopy. Either they have symptoms, so they’ve had blood in their stool, or they’ve had some weight loss and anemia, meaning their blood count is low. And they are sent for a colonoscopy.”
Related: Looking for Polyps During Colonoscopy
The colonoscopy is meant to detect any abnormalities or points of concern, said Dr. Yeo. “The colonoscopy often will show something abnormal. So it will show a mass. Sometimes, it shows a polyp that looks a little bit more abnormal. We want to review the actual specimen, what the biopsy piece. We want to look at that on the slides and actually see if we see that there’s clearly cancer there. Once we do that, then there’s a series of tests. We usually start with one blood test.”
Related: Colon Cancer Screening is Extremely Important; Guidelines Now Say to Start at Age 45 if There Is No Family History
Following bloodwork, other tests may be administered to check for cancer, said Dr. Yeo. “And then, we start with a CAT scan, usually the chest to the abdomen and pelvis if we’re sure that there’s a cancer there. And then, those things kind of tell us whether or not there’s a distant disease. So has it spread anywhere? And does it have big pieces in the lung or the liver, which are kind of the most common places that it would spread?”
Colon Cancer Diagnosis: What Happens After the Colonoscopy
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
