Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in Tennessee, which is one reason why the Center for Health and Human Services at Middle Tennessee State University has been working with the Tennessee Department of Health the past five years to compile and distribute the state's first control plan through the Tennessee Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalition. The CHHS is also assisting with the recently revised and updated 2009-2012 cancer plan.

Part of the overall effort has been to establish six regional Cancer Coalitions throughout the state to bring together providers, medical centers, universities, researchers and patient advocates to sponsor educational programs and initiatives and to encourage citizens to undergo cancer screenings.

Tennessee ranks 3rd in the nation in deaths caused by cancer, according to Feb. 2009 figures from the CDC. The CDC report also states that Tennessee ranks 21st in the nation in new cases of cancer. The only neighboring state that fares worse is Kentucky, which ranks 4th in new cases and 1st in national death rates. Why does Tennessee rank so high in cancer why 21st in new cases and 3rd in deaths? The coalition will continue to seek answers to those puzzling questions.

While agencies are joining forces to find those elusive answers, they also are preaching prevention through personal responsibility.

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells us that colorectal cancer screening saves lives," says Dr. Martha Jo Edwards, CHHS director and holder of the interdisciplinary Adams Chair of Excellence in Health Care Services at MTSU.

"If everyone 50 years and older were screened regularly, as many as 60 percent of deaths from this cancer could be avoided…