A quick test could provide long-term protection from colon cancer, says a new University of Minnesota study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers found that colon cancer mortality rates are reduced for at least 18 years after people are screened. This new research is based on the landmark Minnesota Colon Cancer Control Study conducted by the University of Minnesota beginning in the mid-1970s. The study was the first to show that fecal-occult colon cancer screening – testing feces for the presence of blood – could be effective in reducing deaths.