Nope, not a typo. Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, sent out a news release this afternoon announcing she’ll co-host a “super colon” on the State Capitol’s North Lawn from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to raise awareness on colorectal cancer (and not – I repeat, NOT – as commentary on the state budget process).

Ma – along with Strides For Life, the California Colorectal Cancer Coalition and radiation oncologist Dr. Dale Hunter – will be calling attention to Assembly Concurrent Resolution 23, which declares March as Colorectal Cancer Awareness month. On display will be a 10-foot-by-20-foot colon, which visitors can walk through to learn about early detection and to understand how to prevent colorectal cancer.

Ma says cancer is California’s 2nd leading cause of death – claiming an average of 50,000 lives per year – and colorectal cancer is the state’s third most common form of cancer. About 65 percent of colorectal cancer patients have a survival rate of only five years due to low prognostic exams and early detection; studies have shown that early detection has helped decrease the number of new cancer cases over the years.