COLON CANCER IN 10 POINTS.

1) Colon cancer is a type of cancer that begins in the large intestine (colon). The colon is the final part of the digestive tract.

It’s sometimes called colorectal cancer, which is a term that combines colon cancer and rectal cancer, which begins in the rectum.

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2) Colon cancer typically affects older adults, though it can happen at any age. It usually begins as small, noncancerous (benign) clumps of cells called polyps that form on the inside of the colon. Over time some of these polyps can become colon cancers. For this reason, doctors recommend regular screening tests to help prevent colon cancer by identifying and removing polyps before they turn into cancer.

3) If colon cancer develops, many treatments are available to help control it, including surgery, radiation therapy and drug treatments, such as chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy.

4) Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of colon cancer include:

Many people with colon cancer experience no symptoms in the early stages of the disease. When symptoms appear, they’ll likely vary, depending on the cancer’s size and location in your large intestine.

5) When to see a doctor

If you notice any persistent symptoms that worry you, make an appointment with your doctor.

6) Causes

In general, colon cancer begins when healthy cells in the colon develop changes (mutations) in their DNA. A cell’s DNA contains a set of instructions that tell a cell what to do.

Healthy cells grow and divide in an orderly way to keep your body functioning normally. But when a cell’s DNA is damaged and becomes cancerous, cells continue to divide — even when new cells aren’t needed. As the cells accumulate, they form a tumor.

With time, the cancer cells can grow to invade and destroy normal tissue nearby. And cancerous cells can travel to other parts of the body to form deposits there (metastasis).

Actor CHADWICK BOSEMAN died of colon cancer at the age of 43.

7) Risk factors

Factors that may increase your risk of colon cancer include:

8) Prevention

Screening colon cancer

Doctors recommend that people with an average risk of colon cancer consider colon cancer screening around age 50. But people with an increased risk, such as those with a family history of colon cancer, should consider screening sooner.

9) Colon cancer prevention for people with a high risk

Some medications have been found to reduce the risk of precancerous polyps or colon cancer. For instance, some evidence links a reduced risk of polyps and colon cancer to regular use of aspirin or aspirin-like drugs. But it’s not clear what dose and what length of time would be needed to reduce the risk of colon cancer. Taking aspirin daily has some risks, including gastrointestinal bleeding and ulcers.

These options are generally reserved for people with a high risk of colon cancer. There isn’t enough evidence to recommend these medications to people who have an average risk of colon cancer.

10) What are colon cancer survival rates?

Survival rates for any cancer are often reported by stage, the extent of spread when the cancer is identified. For colon and rectum cancer, around 39% are diagnosed at the local stage, before the cancer has spread outside the local area. The five-year survival for these patients with localized colon and rectum cancer is around 90%.

When the cancer has spread to the regional lymph nodes near the site of origin, the five-year survival rate is about 71%. When the cancer has metastasized to distant sites in the body (stage IV cancer), the five-year survival rate lowers to about 14%.

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