Mostly cloudy skies. Low 51F. NE winds at 5 to 10 mph, increasing to 15 to 25 mph..

Mostly cloudy skies. Low 51F. NE winds at 5 to 10 mph, increasing to 15 to 25 mph.

NEWBURYPORT — Cancer rates are dropping, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and one reason for the decline is that more Americans are getting screened for unseen conditions.

During the recent high season of COVID-19, many middle-aged candidates skipped planned colonoscopies in an apparent effort to avoid medical centers. But now more sites such as Anna Jaques Hospital are being rediscovered for this useful procedure.

One local doctor on the front line of prevention is Dr. Thomas Liu, a gastroenterologist at Anna Jaques who performs many colonoscopies each month. Hospital officials say that 2,500 to 3,000 colonoscopies are done per year at the facility.

“Recently, we are seeing more people coming in to be screened,” Liu said. “Prevention is a major way to deal with colon cancer, and I would urge people not to be scared about a screening.”

The suggested age to start colonoscopies is 45. A similar number of men and women undergo the painless procedure.

Medical experts define a colonoscopy as an examination of the large bowel and part of the small bowel with a fiber-optic camera on a flexible tube passed through the anus.

It can provide visual evidence of polyps or ulceration and can result in the removal of suspected colorectal cancer lesions.

Noted people who have died of colon cancer include actors Chadwick Boseman, Audrey Hepburn and Jack Lemmon, and sports figure Vince Lombardi.

Before arriving at Anna Jaques nearly a decade ago, Liu had an academically adventurous route to this area.

Liu grew up in New York City and attended Northwestern University on a seven-year program that included four years of undergraduate work and three years of medical school.

He did postgraduate work at Boston University, in part to be closer to brother, his identical twin.

His sibling earned a doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is now teaching on the West Coast.

“I was always interested in medicine,” said Liu, whose parents came from Taiwan. “I volunteered in hospitals when I was in about seventh grade.” His mother was a teacher and his father was an electrical engineer.

“I love gastroenterology because of the balance,” he said. “My investigations can involve cancer, infection, immune disease, and problems with the liver. We try to catch things early and work with the patient.”

In the U.S., colorectal cancer ranks second to lung cancer as a cause of cancer mortality and is the third most commonly occurring cancer in both men and women, according to the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

A study estimated that in 2020, approximately 147,950 new cases would have been diagnosed and 53,200 people would have died from the disease, according to the Journal.

Mortality rates have shown a steady annual decline of between 1.7 and 2.5 percent in recent years. Improvement is believed to be driven by changes in risk factors, early detection of cancer through screening, and removal of precancerous polyps with colonoscopy, in addition to advances in surgical and treatment approaches, according to the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Though colonoscopies were once the target of inane joking, it is a painless procedure lasting less than two hours (counting recovery).

It requires a day of preparation, however, because patients must purge their bodies before arriving at the medical center.

“There have to be about eight to 12 bowel movements so that one can get a clear look,” Liu said.

“But it is a very important procedure because colon cancer sometimes has no symptoms. The colonoscopy provides vision, and when necessary, precancerous matter can be removed.”

To become a such a capable physician, Liu has had academic appointments at Holy Family Hospital in Haverhill; Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston; New England Baptist Hospital, Boston; Harvard Medical School, Boston; Weill Cornell Medical College, New York; and Rockefeller University Hospital in New York.

His resume is long and voluminous when listing invited lectures, clinical experience and postdoctoral training. If printed out, it might rival the size of a small phone book – if there still were phone books.

Liu’s hobbies include glassblowing, hiking, cycling, reading, cooking and traveling.

Perhaps because of his interest in travel, Liu lists the following as his languages: English, Mandarin, conversational Spanish and beginning Slovenian.

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