Colon Cancer Details- Symptoms & Screening
The colon is the last portion of the digestive tract, also known as the larger intestine or large bowel. The colon is a long, muscular tube which receives food from the small intestine that is still undigested. It extracts water from the food that is not digested, retains it and eventually disposes it out of the body like stool or bowel movements. The rectum is the last portion of the intestine adjoining the anus, which passes the stool.
Colon and rectal cancer (colorectal cancer) is a type of malignant tumor caused by the wall of your large bowel. These malignant tumors are called cancers and can invade and spread into adjacent tissues in the body. Benign colon tumors are commonly known as polyps. Benign polyps do not invade or spread to other body locations, as malignant tumors do. During colon cancer screening, benign polyps can easily be removed and do not endanger life. But if benign polyps are not removed from the large intestines, they may over time become malignant. Indeed, most of the major intestines cancers have formed from precancerous benign polyps. Going for colonoscopy screening is essential to find out the tumor and remove it.
In about 135,000 people per year, colorectal cancer results in approximately 50 thousand deaths in the U.S. It is the second leading cause of death after lung cancer in the U.S. It is the second largest cancer among women and the third largest cancer among men. The chance of developing colorectal cancer for a US adult is 4.4% for lifetime.
Colon and rectal cancer can affect and damage neighboring tissues and organs. Cancer cells may also break up and spread to other areas of the body where new tumors form (e.g. liver and lung). The mechanism of colon cancer spreading to remote organs is called metastasis and metastases. During the treatment of an adjacent tissue, a symptom of more advanced cancer is direct expansion or invasion. There is less possibility of regeneration, except during surgery where secret cancer cells could be dispersed elsewhere, when cancer therapies have specifically progressed to an adjacent tissue.
It is overwhelmingly evident that even the removal of portion of the colon and lymph nodes would not heal the patient if a colon- or rectal cancer has spread over the lymph channels to adjacent lymph nodes. Finding metastases of the lymph node mean that undetectable microscopic cancer cells may still exist in another part of the body. It is not possible that a lasting cure will be achieved by treatment if the cancer spreads across the bloodstream to the liver, lung, bones or other bodies, or through the lymphatic canals into distant lymph nodes.
If detected early via colon cancer screening, colorectal cancer is preventable and curable. The removal of precancerous colon polyps prevents colorectal cancer. It is cured if cancer changes are detected before the cancer cells spread to other areas of the body and are removed surgically. In its surveillance program the national polyp study demonstrated a 90% decrease in the incidence of colorectal cancer in individuals who had their polyps removed. Early, surgically or endoscopically, the few patients who had colorectal cancer find their cancer.
As the majority of colon polyps and early cancers are silent (no signs), colon cancer screening and monitoring are important in patients without symptoms or symptoms of polyps or cancer. Many communities, like the U.S., provided and supported guidelines for cost-effective public screening and surveillance. The preventive service task force, American Cancer Society (USPSTF), American College of Medicine, American College of Surgeons, American College of Gastroenterology, etc.
You can book your schedule with Digestive Disease Specialist in OKC for colonoscopy screening. This diagnosis will help you to find out any abnormalities in your colon or rectum and take the necessary steps.
**Disclaimer: This blog content does not offer a doctor's advice and creates no relationship between any patient and care provider.
