With half of Monte Sereno, Calif.'s 3,500 residents in their upper 40s or older, the city has decided to take a proactive stance against colon cancer. The disease kills 56,000 Americans every year, with about 93 percent of cases occurring in people over age 50, according to the Atlanta-based American Cancer Society (ACS). The city council recently voted to become a “colon cancer-free zone” and is planning to mail informational brochures about the disease and ways to prevent it to residents. To promote screenings, staff will visit residents and place ads in the local newspaper. To bring even more attention to the often preventable disease, the city has adopted the ACS's Polyp Man mascot — placing a cartoon image of the mascot on brochures and recruiting volunteers to dress in a Polyp Man costume at city events. Angie Carrillo, marketing coordinator for ACS, says Polyp Man can help break the ice for colon cancer discussions because the mascot is so over-the-top. “The character is obnoxious [and] so disruptive you want to ‘remove’ him from any room or scene,” she says. Monte Sereno will monitor its progress toward becoming a colon cancer-free zone through California's cancer registry.