When the staff of the GI (Gastrointestinal) Endoscopy/Bronchoscopy Unit at Duke wanted to raise awareness about colon cancer prevention, they got the message out in a big way.

The staff rented billboards on three major thoroughfares in Durham so that 60,000 motorists a day during the month of September would be urged to get tested for colon cancer, which is the second leading cause of all cancer deaths. Two of the billboards are located on Highway 70, one on Roxboro Road, and another on Highway 15-501 near the former South Square Mall.

To pay for the billboards, the staff used proceeds from the unit's first golf tournament and silent auction fund-raiser that was held at Treyburn Country Club during national Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month in March. The Duke Cancer Clinic provided support for the fund-raiser.

"The most important goal was to raise awareness in the community about the prevention of colon cancer through screening," says Christa Allen, RN, who organized the fund-raiser. "So many people come to our clinic and unit who had a very good chance of preventing colon cancer through diet or screening but are already in advanced stages. We thought billboards would be the best way to get the message across to the largest number of people."

The project involved many of the unit's staff nurses and other members of the health care team, adds Kelly Monsees, unit nurse manager. "It was a real team effort," she says. "Staff and their family members contributed in many different ways to make this a successful fund-raising and educational awareness project."

For more information about colon cancer prevention, call the Duke GI Endoscopy/Bronchoscopy Unit at 684-4887 or visit the Web site of the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance, co-founded by NBC Today show co-anchor Katie Couric, at www.nccra.org/.