HOUSTON – Studies show African American men are more likely to be diagnosed and have a higher mortality rate with colon cancer.
That means it's a grim diagnosis for patients like Lawrence Meadows, but Lawrence is optimistic to the core.
When asked if anything about his stage four cancer diagnosis worried him, "No it doesn't," he said matter of factly.
Meadows said his profession as a pastor helped when doctors said they found colon cancer, which was caught when doctors found a baseball-sized tumor in his gut.
"It helps me in my faith to know all sickness is not unto death," he said.
NBC News correspondent Craig Melvin got the news shortly after Meadows was diagnosed and immediately started working to save his life. It was urgent for Craig because Lawrence is his brother.
"He's been kind of like the gift of a brain child to help muddle through all the red tape to be able to pull things together, to find out about MD Anderson's wealth of knowledge," Meadows said.
Once at MD Anderson, Lawrence went through 12 rounds of chemo and on the morning of his 13th chemotherapy, Dr. Scott Kopetz gave the news he had been praying for.
"The cancer cells, the initial ones have kind of died off in the first wave and we still have ones that remain but they're less active," Kopetz, MD Anderson GI oncologist, said, "Almost like a dormant state."
Kopetz explained that Lawrence has to stay the course to ensure the cancer disappears but he knows for a black male with a family history, this is a significant step in the right direction.
"What we're seeing is that African Americans, especially African American men, are at higher risk of this cancer coming and coming earlier," Kopetz said.
Therefore, doctors recommend African American men get a colonoscopy five years before white men.
At 39, Meadows said everyone should push for screening.
"I also encourage people to stay positive because it's a journey and what you make it is based on your level of being positive an being strong in your faith," Meadows said.
Sadly, an estimated 50,000 people will not get the same good news this year. That's why doctors say everyone needs to get screened for colon cancer by 50 years old, black men at 45, and people with a family history even earlier.
Kopetz recommends if colon cancer runs in your family, get screened 10 years before that family member's onset.
