Colon cancer - symptoms

The term "colon cancer" is usually referred to as a malignant tumor located in any part of the large intestine (the blind, colon and rectum). This disease - one of the most common forms of cancer among residents of industrialized countries, is more common only lung cancer and breast cancer.

Causes of colon cancer

As with any other form of cancer, the causes of this disease are not exactly established. However, there are a number of risk factors that significantly increase the likelihood of developing this disease:

1. Polyps of the large intestine are benign formations caused by the proliferation of epithelial cells, which can sometimes go into a malignant form.
2. Genetic predisposition: there are forms of colon cancer that develop in several members of the same family, usually at the age of after 50 years.
3. Chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
4. Excessive consumption of food rich in fats and poor coarse plant fibers. This factor is explained by the fact that in people of developed countries, signs of colon cancer are more frequent.

Main Symptoms of Colon Cancer

Cancer of the large intestine develops slowly and in the initial stage can not make itself felt. The specific symptoms of the disease depend on the form and extent of the disease, but usually identify the following:

• presence of blood in the stool;
• pain and discomfort in the abdomen, bloating, flatulence, which do not respond to conventional treatment and do not disappear even under the strictest diet;
• constipation, which is replaced by diarrhea, and also do not respond to treatment by conventional means;
• sensations of incomplete emptying of the intestine after defecation;
• causeless weight loss, decreased appetite, weakness, anemia ;
• jaundice in colon cancer usually means metastases in the liver and gallbladder;
• at large tumor sizes, there may be an increase in the size of the abdomen or disproportionate protrusion of individual areas.

Stages of colon cancer

Depending on the size and extent of the spread of the tumor, it is customary in medicine to distinguish 5 stages of the disease;

1. 0 stage. The tumor is small and outside the intestine does not spread. Prognosis at this stage of colon cancer is favorable, and in 95% of cases after treatment of relapses is not observed.
2. 1 stage. The tumor extends beyond the inner layer of the intestine, but does not reach the muscular layer. Forecasts are favorable in 90% of cases.
3. 2 stage. The cancer spread to all layers of the intestine. Forecasts are favorable in 55-85% of cases.
4. 3 stage. In addition to the intestine, the tumor spreads to nearby lymph nodes. Favorable predictions with a life expectancy of more than 5 years at this stage of colon cancer are observed only in 25-45% of cases.
5. 4 th stage. The tumor gives massive metastases. Favorable prognosis of survival and absence of recurrences of the disease is about 1%.

Colon Cancer Treatment

Treatment of this disease, like other forms of cancer, usually includes surgical intervention, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Surgical treatment consists in removing the tumor and the tissues closest to the affected area. It is effective enough if the tumor does not give metastasis.

Radiotherapy is often combined with a surgical method and is aimed at destroying those cancer cells that have not been removed.

Chemotherapy for colon cancer, is a medical method of treatment. Medications used in chemotherapy either destroy cancer cells, or stop their division. This therapy is used both separately and in conjunction with surgical intervention.