Health Story

Posts Tagged ‘Cancer Colon’

After skin cancer, breast cancer and lung cancer, Colon cancer is the fourth most common cancer type occurring in women across the globe. There are many types of colon cancer: Carcinoid Tumors, Lymphoma, Melanoma and Sarcomas. However, the most common of all the colon cancers is Colon Carcinoma.

A colon in the human body is a long, coiled tube shaped organ, which helps in removing water from the digested food. It is also called the large intestine or the large bowel having four sections: Ascending Colon, Transverse Colon, Descending Colon and Sigmoid Colon. Colon cancer is a type of cancer, which forms in the colon tissues. It is often referred to as colorectal cancer. Colon cancers usually are adenocarcinomas, which mean that they begin in cells releasing mucus and other type of fluids.

Who Are At Risk Of Having Colon Cancer?

Colon cancer is responsible for most of the deaths elated to cancer, but doctors say that an early diagnosis can reduce the risk. Immediate action can also lead to full cure of a patient. The risk of having colon cancer increases, if you:

1-Have cancer elsewhere in your body

2-Have a personal history of breast cancer

3-Have a family history of colon cancer

4-Have colorectal polyps, crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis

Apart from the above stated reasons, the risk of having colon cancer also depends on your diet. Doctors say that chances of colon cancer may increase, if you are having red meat and a high fat with low fibre diet. Some genetic syndromes may be also responsible in developing colon cancer.

Symptoms of Colon Cancer

There are several symptoms indicating the presence of colon cancer in your body. Some of them include blood in your stool, narrow stools, tenderness & pain in the lower abdomen, unexplained anaemia, sudden weight loss, constipation, diarrhoea, intestinal obstruction and changes in bowel habits.

Take Immediate Action against the Menace

If you feel that you are having any of the symptoms, contact your doctor immediately. There are many physical exams, which needs to be done on your belly area. There are also imaging tests that are extremely helpful in diagnosing colon cancers. Again, tests similar to sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy confirm the presence of colon cancer.

One more test of detecting colon cancer is the fecal occult blood test (FEBT). After detection of colon cancer, additional tests known as staging is done to check the exact area in which the colon cancer has spread.

Treatment of Colon Cancer

The treatment of colon cancer is mainly dependent on the stage in which it has been detected. The most common treatments for colon cancer are chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy. Chemotherapy medicines kill the colon cancer cells, radiation therapy destroys the cancerous tissue present and surgery may be done to remove the cancer cells.

If treated at an early stage, nearly 90% of patients suffering from colon cancer may survive for minimum of five years after diagnosis. And in cases where the colon cancer does not recur within a period of five years, the patient is considered to be fully cured.

The cells in your large intestine are exposed to many types of substances that result from digestion and the activity of micro-organisms. What’s more, the cells have a high turnover rate – your intestinal lining completely replaces its cells every week or so. All this metabolic activity makes the cells particularly vulnerable to damage. In some cases, that damage can result in cancer of the colon or rectum. Not counting skin cancer, colon and rectal cancers are the fourth most common form of cancer. Approximately fifty-six thousand people in the United States will die this year because of the disease, accounting for about 3 percent of all deaths.

While scientists do not know the exact cause of colorectal cancer, we do know that it is among the most preventable forms of cancer, even with people with a positive family history of this disease. Clearly diet plays a huge role. The typical American diet – high in fat, low in fiber from fruits and vegetables – is largely to blame. Fat takes longer to digest than other nutrients. Breaking down fat can cause a kind of residue to form in the intestine. This residue irritates cells and can cause them to become abnormal. What’s more, as I have explained, fat triggers production of bile, and bile acids may further irritate and damage cells. Lack of fiber means all this bad stuff is not able to pass out of the intestine as fast as it should.

Colorectal cancer often begins when a polyp grows on the intestinal lining. A polyp is a mushroom-shaped clump of tissue. Most polyps are harmless, but a small percentage of them can become cancerous. Colorectal cancer may or may not cause symptoms. Your doctor can detect polyps through a procedure called a sigmoidoscopy, which uses a viewing scope to examine the lower part of the intestine, or a colonoscopy, which explores the whole organ. Often the polyp can be removed by snipping if off at the base. However, if many polyps are present, or if some of them appear to be progressing into cancer, it may be necessary to remove a section of the intestine through surgery.

Obviously, preventing colorectal cancer is the best way to go. The best strategy is to eat a healthy diet. Cut down on meat, protein, and animal fat. Avoid meat that has been fried, charcoal-grilled, or cooked at high temperatures; these forms of preparation produce high levels of cancer-causing compounds. Increase fiber intake by eating fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Foods rich in calcium, vitamin C, and folate appear to offer protection. Calcium is of special interest, because it readily binds with irritants in colon and blocks their ability to stimulate cell proliferation. A recent study found that when people who had had polyps removed supplemented their diet with 1,200 mg of calcium a day, cell growth in the colon returned to normal.

A healthy lifestyle helps too. Drinking more than one or two alcoholic beverages especially beer a day appears to increase the risk, perhaps by encouraging cells to reproduce more rapidly and by damaging the new cells. Cigarette smoking may cause a high risk of polyps; in smokers, polyps are more likely to regrow after they have been removed. People who exercise throughout their lives and who maintain a healthy weight have a lower rate of colorectal cancer. Some evidence suggests that taking aspirin and other NSAIDs or, better yet, natural inhibitors of prostaglandin may help.

Colorectal cancer is a major health concern and public health problem in

most of the Western countries despite widespread use of screening technique

to detect early stages of this disease. In the United States alone more than

148,000 people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer each year. Over 55,000

deaths occur in the United States due to colorectal cancer. Colon cancer is

a very common disease and it is the third most common type of cancer in both

sexes. In men it ranks third after prostate and lung cancer and in women

after lung and breast cancer. Colorectal cancer ranks second after lung

cancer in terms of number of deaths from cancer.

Majority of colorectal cancers (72%) start in the colon and smaller fraction

(28%) arises in the rectum. The lifetime risk of being diagnosed with

colorectal cancer in the United States is 5.9% for men and 5.5% for women.

There are several known risk factors for colorectal cancer. Being a male

poses higher risk of colorectal cancer compared to being female. Increasing

age is associated with an increase in the risk of colorectal cancer.

Incidence of colorectal cancer is higher among African Americans compared to

Caucasians. Risk of developing colorectal cancer is much higher for people

living in the industrialized nations compared to less industrialized

nations.

Diet, rich in fat and cholesterol, is linked to higher risk of developing

colorectal cancer. Lack of proper exercise, presence of inflammatory bowel

disease, some types of polyps and history of family members with diagnosis

of colorectal cancer have been associated with higher risk of development of

colorectal cancer.

Early stages of colorectal cancer may not cause any symptoms. Some people

might experience vague symptoms like mild abdominal pain, flatulence or

diarrhea. Occasionally there might be microscopic bleeding and the diagnosis

of colorectal cancer would be suspected because of presence of anemia from

chronic bleeding. Some people might develop frank bleeding or symptoms of

bowel obstruction.

Screening for colorectal cancer can detect the disease at an early stage. A

rectal examination and examination of the stool specimen for the presence of

microscopic quantity of blood are very common screening tools. Sigmoidocopy

and colonoscopy are more invasive investigations, which can detect and

remove some polyps that might be precursors of cancer. Less invasive

techniques like barium enema, virtual colonoscopy using a CT scan machine

are also often used in screening and diagnosis of colorectal cancer. Adults

having an average risk of colorectal cancer should start colorectal cancer

screening beginning at age 50.

Treatment of colorectal cancer depends upon the stage of the disease. Early

stages of colorectal cancers are treated with surgery alone, later stages of

colorectal cancer are treated with surgery followed by chemotherapy with or

without radiation treatment. Rectal cancers are more often treated with

radiation therapy compared to colon cancer. Advanced stages of colorectal

cancer, where the disease has spread to other organs, are usually treated

with chemotherapy alone. There are several new chemotherapeutic agents and

biological drugs available for the treatment of colorectal cancer. Treatment

of colorectal cancer has undergone marked changes in the last 10 years. The

newer drugs are showing much improved efficacy and prolonging life

expectancy in patients with advanced stage colorectal cancer.