By Kay Quinn, KSDK-TV, March 16, 2007

It''s a cancer no one wants to talk about. But local doctors are hoping to start an open dialogue about colon cancer, especially in the African-American community.

African-Americans have the highest number of cases and the highest death rate.

Eric Nowden was just 30 when he was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2000.

"I was losing weight, I couldn''t eat a lot ... if I had a hamburger or something like that I felt full," said Nowden.

Nowden was living in Arizona when he was initially diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease. When the symptoms didn''t get better be moved back home to St. Louis and was diagnosed with colon cancer.

Colonoscopy, a test to look for cancer in the colon, has helped lower rates of the disease in recent years but not among African-Americans.

Of the 150,000 cases of colon cancer that will be diagnosed this year, more than 16,000 of those patients will be black.

"There''s several reasons for that, one is that they come to us at a later stage," said Dr. James Fleshman, a rectal surgeon at Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis.

Fleshman said African-Americans might delay screening and not be aware of other risk factors like family history and increasing age.

Ninety percent of people diagnosed with colon cancer are over 50.

Starting at 50, everyone should get a colonoscopy. If you have a relative with this cancer, get your test ten years sooner than the age of your family member when they were diagnosed.

"It''s not something to be so afraid of as it used to be. No one gets a (colostomy) bag anymore because they have colon cancer. You get an operation. We take care of it and you go on your way," said Fleshman.

Nowden said he''s living proof that with early detection, you can beat colon cancer. He beat it in 2000 and again in 2002.

"My message to everyone in the black community is to get screened and checked you know consult with your doctors," said Nowden.