Colorectal cancer, commonly known as colon cancer, is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States and is the most deadly cancer among non-smokers. There are nearly 154,000 new colon cancer diagnoses and 52,000 deaths due to the disease each year in the United States. Roughly 600,000 worldwide will die from colon cancer in 2010.

But colon cancer is widely known as the most preventable, yet least prevented cancer. Roughly one-third of colon cancerrelated deaths could be avoided if more people would undergo regular screening. Nearly half of those diagnosed are not expected to survive longer than five years. Most new cases are detected after the cancer has progressed to the late stages and is less treatable. For those whose cancer is detected at an earlier stage, the five-year survival rate can be greater than 90 percent. But when colon cancer progresses past stage II, it becomes much more difficult to treat because it perforates the colon wall and spreads to nearby lymph nodes.

It takes up to 15 years for a precancerous polyp to develop into deadly late-stage cancer. Precancerous polyps are abnormal growths that emerge from the wall of the colon. They are present in approximately five percent of those over the age of 50 in the United States. While only a small percentage of polyps are precancerous, if not detected and removed, these polyps become cancerous and begin to progress through the four stages of cancer.

Today, many people fail to get screened for colon cancer. Many are fearful of or uncomfortable with colonoscopy, the gold-standard screening method.

This poor screening compliance leads to the late detection of colon cancer and ends with increased mortality from the disease. Approximately 60 percent of all colon cancer is detected in the late stages, when survival odds drop precipitously. Patients with stage III cancer have a five-year survival rate of 68 percent. In stage IV, when the cancer has metastasized to a distant organ, the survival rate plummets to 10 percent.

Exact Sciences’ mission is to reduce colon cancer deaths through our early, patient-friendly screening test for both precancer and cancer. Our focus on precancer detection presents a significant opportunity to create value for customers, patients and shareholders. We believe our non-invasive, colon cancer screening test can increase compliance, improve detection and prevention, reduce mortality and target colonoscopies to the appropriate patients.