Colon Cancer Symptoms and Treatment | Colorectal Cancer

What is Colon Cancer?

Colon Cancer is a malignant tumor begins from the inner wall of the large intestine or rectum.If you know the Symptoms of Colorectal Cancer which it causes, doctor may be able to perform Diagnosis and Treat it early. Digestive System Disease, Colorectal Cancer is the third leading cause of cancer in USA.

The large intestine is the colon that begins with the cecum, which receives food residues from the small intestine (stool) (the ascending colon) (the ascending colon, the transverse colon, and the colon). It is a term that refers to the entire intestine, which is about 1 m and 80 cm in length, extending to the descending colon, sigmoid colon, rectum, and anus.

The rectum is divided into three parts: the rectum sigmoid part, the upper rectum, and the lower rectum. Depending on where the cancer has developed, it is called colon or rectal cancer.

Colon Cancer and Rectal Cancer are collectively called Colon Cancer. Diagnosis and treatment of cancers of the anus and anal cancer are also included in Colorectal Cancer in a broad sense .

Also Read : Esophageal Cancer : Symptoms, Causes And Treatment

Causes of Colon Cancer :

• Fatty or high-fat diets
• Protein-rich or high-protein

Colorectal Cancer is very common in developed countries such as the United States.Westernization of diet means that foods with high fat and protein, such as meat and butter, are consumed more frequently, and the intake of dietary fiber such as rice, wheat, potatoes, bread, noodles, vegetables, etc. has decreased relatively.

That means. Fatty or high-fat diets, protein-rich or high-protein diets alter intestinal bacteria in the intestine, resulting in carcinogens that act on the colonic mucosa to cause cancer Is believed to be.

Signs and Symptoms of Colon Cancer:

• Bleeding during bowel movement
• Constipation
• Abdominal pain
• Diarrhea
• Abdominal mass

However, many people (70%of those with Colorectal Cancer ) who are aware of these symptoms usually do not go to the hospital for more than three months. Bleeding during defecation may include blood around the stool, mixed stool and blood, or blood adhered to the paper wiped after defecation.

Clinical symptoms vary depending on the location of the tumor . In the initial stages of the disease, its manifestations may be insignificant (dyspeptic symptoms, anemia with hidden blood loss, etc.).

In the future, the signs of the disease increase, in severe cases, intestinal obstruction, bleeding, inflammatory complications (abscess, phlegmon, peritonitis) are observed. With Colorectal Cancer, a tumor can grow into the bladder, vagina with the development of fistulas, cause compression of the ureters, etc.

In the case of rectal cancer and sigmoid Colon Cancer, red blood (fresh blood) comes out, so you can be aware that you are also bleeding. In any case, if you have bloody stool, you need to go to a specialist as soon as possible to have a colon examination.

Even ascending colon and cecum cancers bleed from the lesion, but when stool is defecated, the blood is often black or brown, not old blood. In ascending colon and cecum cancers, the main symptoms are lumps (mass) in the lower right abdomen, anemia, and weight loss.

Description of Colon Cancer:

The localization of Colon Cancer can be different - in the ascending, transverse colon, descending, sigmoid colon. Colorectal Cancer is located in the anal, lower, middle, upper ampullar and rectosigmoid region.The tumor grows mainly exophytic (in the lumen of the intestine) or endophytic (in the thickness of the intestinal wall).

Most often diagnosed with adenocarcinomas, rarely the tumor has the structure of cricoid-cell, undifferentiated or squamous cell carcinoma. Colon and rectal cancer metastasizes to regional lymph nodes, liver, lungs, and sometimes to other organs. The classification of this disease is carried out according to the TNM system

Also Read : Stomach Cancer  Symptoms and Treatment | Gastric Cancer

Diagnosis for Colon Cancer:

The diagnosis of Colorectal Cancer in the early stages is based on data from digital rectal examination, irrigoscopy , sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy ( with biopsy ). Dispensary supervision is subject to sick risk groups.

In other cases, the selection of patients for examination is carried out after analysis of clinical symptoms, obtaining the results of an analysis of feces for the presence of blood, determination of carcinoembryonic antigen in the blood. To exclude liver metastases, ultrasound imaging is performed.

Treatment for Colon Cancer :

• Surgical
• Radiation therapy
• Chemotherapy

The main treatment for Colorectal Cancer is surgical. After radical surgery, 5-year survival is 50-60%. With Colon Cancer, a right or left hemicolectomy is performed. When a tumor is localized in the distal third of the sigmoid colon, its resection is performed.

In case of rectal cancer, an operation is performed with removal of the closure apparatus (abdominal-perineal extirpation with a colostomy) or its preservation (abdominal-anal resection with or without lowering the colon, anterior resection, Hartmann surgery).

Palliative surgery can reduce the manifestations of the disease (bypass intestinal anastomosis, colostomy for obstruction; palliative resection for liver metastases; ligation or embopization of the hepatic artery, etc.).

Radiation Therapy may cause partial regression of the tumor. Most often it is used in primary and recurrent Colorectal Cancer.

Chemotherapy is used only in cases of inoperable tumors and metastases. It is effective in 20-40% of patients.

Surgery for advanced Colon Cancer :

In the case of surgery for sm2, sm3 colon and advanced Colorectal Cancer, the intestine is removed 5 to 10 cm away from the mouth (closer to the mouth) and anal side (closer to the anus). 

The intestine contains arteries that flow into the intestine, veins that flow out of the intestine, lymph vessels, and lymph nodes that are contained in the mesentery membrane. And there is a risk that veins, lymph vessels, and lymph nodes may contain cancer cells that have flowed away from the cancer focus.

Therefore, the mesentery containing the lymph nodes is removed together with the large intestine. The size of the mesentery and lymph node resection range may be up to two groups or up to three groups. In the case of sm cancer, up to 2 groups are often taken, and in the case of advanced cancer, up to 3 groups.

However, if the patient's age or co-morbidities (such as diseases the patient has other than Colorectal Cancer , diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease, respiratory disease, etc.), resection up to 2 groups Sometimes it is.