Know About All The Colon Carcinoma Symptoms

The type of cancer that starts in the large intestine (also called colon) or at the end of colon called rectum is known as colon cancer or colon carcinoma. The colon cancer is also called colorectal cancer if it occurs in the large intestine and rectum area. It is a very dangerous disease that must be checked in time. Although the disease exhibits very few colon carcinoma symptoms, you must be very careful about getting afflicted with it.

The risk of colon cancer increases if you have cancer elsewhere in your body, have colorectal polyps, a family history of colon cancer, crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, or a family history of breast cancer. Some studies also state that colon carcinoma may also be related to what we eat. High fat diet, much red meat and low fiber diet may also enhance the risk of colon cancer.

Usually, colon cancer doesn’t show significant symptoms. But in stage 0 or I you might experience certain symptoms that may indicate towards the presence of cancerous cells in your colon. The symptoms of colon carcinoma may include constipation, diarrhea or other changes in bowel regulation or habits. Some amount of blood in stool and unexplained anemia may also be experienced by the patient.

The other symptoms of colon cancer include abdominal pain and a feeling of tenderness in the lower abdomen, sudden weight loss, vomiting or nausea, large amounts of blood in stool, fatigue and tiredness, stomach cramps, narrow stools and intestinal obstructions. If metastasis has occurred to other parts, you may experience symptoms in that part too. For example, if the lungs are metastasized the patient would have difficulty in breathing.

If you suffer from the above said symptoms the doctors would perform tests to detect whether you are suffering from cancer or not. Tests like Sigmoidoscopy or Colonoscopy may be performed to detect the presence of cancer. There are other tests too but these two are most effective in early detection of the cancer in colon.

It is very essential for people to take care of such symptoms if they have a history of cancer in family or have been afflicted by it in past. A person having history of breast cancer can also develop colon cancer easily. Even if the symptoms may not be those of cancer, precaution is better than medicine.

According to a study carried out by the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancerous deaths in the US. But, an early diagnosis and treatment can completely cure the patient. Therefore you must stay vigilant about the colon carcinoma symptoms and take immediate action.

Stage Defines The Colon Carcinoma Treatment

The treatment of cancer depends on a lot of things like the stage of the disease, patient’s previous medical history and the overall strength of the body. The colon carcinoma treatment partly depends on the stage of the malignant cells.

Stage 0 colon cancer treatments may include the surgeries like simple polypectomy or local excision. Polypectomy means a surgery in which doctors remove an infected polyp. The other surgeries for this stage of cancer may also include anastomosis or resection.

This is a procedure when the healthy portion of the tubular is connected to the portion from which the malignant portion has been surgically removed. This surgery is preferred when the stage 0 tumor is too large to be removed by local excision. Stage I colon cancer treatment usually includes resection or anastomosis. After the surgery, patients may be given chemotherapy.

Stage II colon cancer may include resection or anastomosis. In this stage too, the same procedure is applied for anastomosis. After the surgery, the doctors can give radiation therapy, chemotherapy or biologic therapy. The chemotherapy includes the use of medicines like 5-fluorouracil to kill the malignant cells.

In biological therapy, the immune system of the body is boosted to make it strong to fight the infections, cancer cells and side effects. The clinical trials may vary from hospital to hospital. The agents used in biological theory are monoclonal antibodies, growth factors, and vaccines. The radiation therapy can also be used. In this treatment option, high-energy radiation from x-rays, gamma rays, neutrons, protons, and other sources are used to shrink tumors or cancer cells.

The radiation may come from a radioactive material placed inside the body of the patient or from a machine outside. There is a particular therapy called Systemic radiation therapy where radioactive antibodies run throughout the body via blood. This therapy is also called irradiation.

The stage III treatment options are similar to stage II, but chemotherapy after surgery is must in III stage treatment.

Stage IV is the last stage of the cancer and doctors try all the best applicable methods to treat the patient. Surgery is conducted to remove the tumor or parts of other organs affected such as liver, lungs, or ovaries. After the surgery, radiation or chemotherapy is must which are given as palliative therapy to improve the quality of life and relieve the symptoms of cancer. If colon cancer has spread to liver then special treatment like cryosurgery or other treatment are carried out.

Patients who still have minute amounts of cancer cells after II or III stage surgery are given chemotherapy sessions for complete colon carcinoma treatment. Thus, determination of the right stage is the first step towards getting a perfect treatment to get rid of colon cancer

A Common Man’s Note On Colon Carcinoma

Colon is the large intestine. And Carcinoma is another name for cancer. Therefore, the term Colon Carcinoma can notes to nothing else but the cancer of the large intestine. Colon cancer is also known as bowel cancer or colorectal cancer.

The term colon cancer is used to denote all kinds of cancerous growths not only in the large intestine, but also in the rectum and the appendix. Rectum is the final straightened portion of the large intestine, which terminates in the anus. The human rectum is approximately 12 cm long.

The appendix, in the human body, is a worm-shaped, blind-ended tube like structure, connected at the junction of the small intestine and the large intestine. It can be easily removed as it does not play any role in the human anatomy.

Colon cancer is the third most common form of cancer in the Western world. It is also the second leading cancer-related cause of death in the United States.

So,how does the cancer come about, in the first place?Usually, about 93 percent of the colorectal cancers arise due to adenomatous colon polyps. Adenoma is the scientific name for a collection of growths of a glandular origin. Adenomas can grow from numerous organs in the body,some of them being the colon, pituitary, adrenal and thyroid.

The term polyp means a harmless growth or tumor, which protrudes from the mucous linings of any organ in the body such as the nose, intestine or the bladder,etc.Thereby causing obstructions. Although these growths start out as benign, in due course of time, if untreated, they may develop into malignant ones and form a cancer.

How is it treated?

A localized colon cancer is treated through colonoscopy. Colonoscopy is the examination of the colon up to a depth of 4-5 feet in length through an endoscope. An endoscope is an instrument, which has a CCD camera or a fiber optic camera attached on a flexible tube. This tube is passed through the anus. Virtually the entire colon can be examined in this manner for ulcerations or polyps and the same can be removed.

Therapy of colon carcinoma is usually completed through colon surgery, followed by chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is the process of killing the unwanted and cancerous cells through chemicals.

The symptoms of colon cancer appear only once the cancer reaches its malignant stage. The typical symptoms are rectal bleeding, bloody stools, reduction in diameter of feces, a lingering feeling of incomplete defecation, stools with mucus, change in bowel habits, change in frequency characterized by diarrhea and/or constipation and, in rare cases, bowel obstruction. These symptoms become more prominent depending upon the nearness of the polyp to the anus.

One or the other colon cleanse system such as master cleanse, enema and dual action colon cleanse can be used as precautionary measures to colon carcinoma. It can very effectively save us from the onset of this disease to a great extent.

Carcinoma Of The Sigmoid Colon

The sigmoid colon is a loop of the large intestine, which is on an average 40 cm. in length. It lies behind the pelvis, displaced into the abdominal cavity. Carcinoma of the Sigmoid Colon is seen more commonly between the ages of 40 and 80. The disease has its highest incidence between the ages of 60 and 70 years. And, surprisingly, women are more prone to get inflicted by it, than men.

The colorectal cancer is a life-threatening, uncontrolled growth of tumor, which takes place in the large intestine, including the rectum. About two-thirds of these cancers occur in the sigmoid region of the intestine and are known as the cancer of the sigmoid colon. One-third occurs at the junction of the sigmoid colon and the rectum.

The cancer has its incidence more on the denizens of the western world rather than Asia. This is quite a peculiar statistic and the scientists are still trying to find out why it is so.

Recent studies have shown that colorectal cancer,including the sigmoid colon cancer, has been on a steady decline among the Caucasian communities in the United States, although, its incidence among the African-American communities has increased by almost fifty percent.

The Hispanic Caucasians have only half the mortality rates as compared to the non-Hispanic whites. Another surprising fact observed by scientists is that the migrants to the United States, even those from Asia, tend to pick up this disease at the same rate, similar to those living in their adoptive country. The disease seems to have a higher occurrence in the urban areas.

This makes it amply clear that sigmoid colon cancer has its causation more in your lifestyle, rather than your metabolism. The reasons, therefore, for developing the disease are similar to those of colorectal cancer.

If you go beyond forty, you are at risk of developing colon polyps. Multiple polyps and those exceeding a diameter of about 1.0 cm can develop into malignant neoplasms, and the sigmoid colon carcinoma.

The other causation factors are any previous cancers, a sedentary lifestyle and obesity. The development of the cancer gets hastened if the patient has the habit of taking excessive alcohol; coupled with the consumption of a high-fat, low-fiber, low-folate and a low-calcium diet.

The screening of the sigmoid colon cancer can be done by an internal examination called Sigmoidoscopy. A sigmoidoscope is used for the process. The instrument is a fiber-optic flexible tube with a small camera attached to its end. It is about twenty inches long and inserted gently into the anus, till it reaches the sigmoid colon. After this, the entire area is searched for any polyps, inflammations, etc.

If a carcinoma of the sigmoid colon is found then medications and appropriate chemotherapy is prescribed as curative measures.

What Colon Carcinoma Stage Are You In?

The treatment options for all types of cancer are determined by the stage of this deadly disease. In case of the colon cancer too the doctors first try to find out the colon carcinoma stage before they start their treatment. Staging is the method that is applied to find the impact of the cancer cells in the patient and how far they have affected the particular area.

How do the doctors find out the stages of colon carcinoma? Today, the best technique available to find out the stage of colon carcinoma is called TNM (Tumor, Node, Metastasis) staging system. According to this system there are five stages of colon cancer stage 0, stage I, stage II, stage III and stage IV.

Stage 0 is the state when the cancer cells have just developed. They are found in the innermost lining of the colon. This is also called carcinoma in situ. The abnormal cells which are found in the lining soon may develop in to deadly cancerous cells which would then regenerate very fast.

Stage I Colon Cancer refers to the situation when the cells have just begun to spread beyond the innermost lining of colon. They reach to the middle layer of colon and are called Duke A colon cancer. The first and second stages of colon cancer are very dangerous and they are completely curable.

The risk starts at stage II cancer. In this stage, the malignant cells spread more deep down the colon and rectum and there is a possibility that they might have intruded into other tissues already. They don’t reach lymph nodes and hence there is less possibility of metastasis. This stage cancer is called Duke B colon cancer.

The stage III colon cancer refers to the condition when it has already spread to lymph nodes of the colon and the cells have not been carried to distant organs or adjoining organs. The third stage is called Duke C colon cancer.

The most deadly stage is the fourth one. In stage IV the cancer cells have already been carried by the lymph glands to distant parts of the body and this means that they might have settled in some areas and would grow there with normal cells. The organs which are most likely to experience metastasis from this Duke D cancer are liver and lungs.

All the above mentioned stages of colon cancer pose their own risks and threats. Although the initial ones are curable, the chances of aggravation always persist. Thus, the detection of the correct colon carcinoma stage is the first prerequisite for a workable cure. It helps the doctors analyze the exact condition of the patient and suggest a treatment accordingly.

Check Colon Carcinoma Metastasis In Time

Cancer cells often transverse themselves to other parts of the body and affect the other organs too. It spreads to the adjoining or other nearby organs and this spread of colon caner is called colon carcinoma metastasis. The word metastasis means the spread of disease from one part of the body to another. It’s only the infections and the malignant cells that can metastasize.

Colon carcinoma cells are more prone to metastasis as the colon adjoining organs like stomach, ovaries, liver, lungs, and rectum are very vulnerable. Cancer cells always have the tendency to break away and spill or leak from the primary site and enter the lymph nodes or blood vessels to travel to other sites. Once they settle there, they start to grow and affect the normal tissues of other organs too.

Metastasis varies in degree according to the type of cancer that one may be suffering from. Colon carcinoma refers to the growth of malignant tissues in your colon. It is also called bowel cancer where malignant cells grow in the colon, appendix and rectum area. If a person is suffering from colon cancer and metastasis occurs to organs like lungs or liver, he may start to experience some symptoms.

When the malignant cells move to the lungs and start to develop there, the patient starts to come across shortness of breath. If a patient confirmed with colon cancer experiences such symptoms, he or she may immediately inform the doctor.

Among the various organs that might experience the metastasis of colon cancer liver is the most vulnerable organ. Most deaths due to metastasis of colon cancer have been a result of severe liver damage. In case of liver metastasis, the patient would experience right upper abdominal pain or epigastric pain. Sometimes, there could also be symptoms of jaundice visible if the bile outflow is blocked by growing cells. Liver enlargement is a possibility too.

The metastasis of colon carcinoma also affects the treatment procedure. Any kind of cancer metastasis affects the survival chance and the treatments options. If the carcinoma cells travels to other parts and don’t show any symptoms or development, the doctors may not be able to diagnose them. Even a single cell breaking away from the tumor can have a later affect.

There are various treatments that are applied in detecting metastasis cancer. The doctors may perform radiosurgery, biological therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, radiation therapy or others. The choice of the treatment applicable depends a lot on the stage of the cancer.

So,if you have a patient in your home who is suffering from colon cancer it’s very important that you keep a check on every symptom that the patient experiences, to detect if there is any metastasis taking place. Colon carcinoma metastasis could be very dangerous as it attacks the most vital organs of our body like liver and lungs and may further aggravate the problem

Dukes B Colon Carcinoma- Stage II Of Colon Cancer

Cancerous growths in internal parts of the body like rectum, colon or appendix is known as colon caner. Colon cancer is the second most leading cause of deaths due to cancer around the world. It is also the third most prominent form of cancer. It is divided into five stages depending on its growth.  Dukes B Colon Carcinoma is the second stage of colon cancer.

When the cancerous growths move beyond the innermost layer of the colon and into the middle layer of the colon it is regarded as Dukes B Colon Carcinoma. Also if the colon cancer extends to the nearby organs it is still regarded as the second stage of colon cancer.

Stage 2 of colon cancer is further divided into two sub stages- Duke B1 or Stage 2A and Duke B2 or Stage 2B. B2 is the more advanced stage here.

Regarding the anatomy of the colon cancer, the first layer of the colon is referred to as mucosa, after this comes a very thin muscle layer called submucosa. After this comes two thick muscle layers and only after passing through it comes the outermost layer of colon called serosa.

In stage 2A the colon cancer only makes it to the muscle layer or at best to the tissues surrounding the colon or the rectum. Whereas in stage two the condition is much more serious as the colon cancer extends to the nearby organs like ovaries and bladder. Also here the colon cancer can spread to peritoneum. Peritoneum is the tissue that is responsible for covering most of the organs of our body.

If a person is diagnosed in stage 2 of colon cancer his treatment consists mainly of surgical resurrection. In this method the doctors try to remove the affected or infected portion of the colon completely and thus reconnect the remaining healthy portions of the colon. In majority of the cases this treatment method is used. But if the doctor thinks that chances of recurrence of colon cancer are there then he can revert to treatment methods like chemotherapy, immunotherapy or radiation.

Regarding survival rates for people suffering from colon cancer a lot of factors come into play. The first factor is the stage. The earlier the stage, the more are the chances of recovery. The location of tumor is also another important factor. Tumors in the right colon are difficult to recognize as the symptoms occur at a very late stage.

In fact the place where you reside is also a factor of concern. If your place has sufficient facilities for colon cancer recognition then it is very likely that your problem will be diagnosed at a very early stage.

But medical researches have revealed that in around 90 percent of people with Dukes B Colon Carcinoma, people survived for even 5 years after being diagnosed with this condition.

Life Sans The Carcinoma Of Colon And Rectum

The term colon refers to that portion of the intestine, which begins at the cecum and ends at the rectum. It is more commonly known as the large intestine. Carcinoma of Colon and Rectum is, therefore, a cancer of the large intestine.

The rectum is the last portion of the large intestine, which ends in the anus. The colon cancer and the rectal cancer are together known as colorectal cancer.

In the United States, the colorectal cancer is the fourth largest death-causing disease preceded only by the skin, prostrate and the lung cancer, in men. In women, it is preceded by the skin, lung and the breast cancer.

All cancers begin in the cell. When a cell, instead of dying out, remains as such, and new cells start accumulating in the same region, they form an unwanted lump of flesh called a tumor.

The tumors that are malignant form into the life-threatening, colorectal cancer. The cancer, if not removed completely, grows back. Sometimes, it also spreads to the other parts of the body through the bloodstream.

The colorectal cancer usually spreads to the liver. The new cancer, in such cases, is called a metastatic colorectal cancer, and not liver cancer.

Colorectal cancer is not a contagious disease. Scientists, so far, have been able to shortlist certain personal and genetic factors as the main causes of the disease. More than 90 percent of the people, who get diagnosed of colorectal cancer, are above the age of 50.

Age is the most predominant factor because people, by the time they reach 50, become more prone to developing colorectal polyps. These polyps are either benign or malignant growths in the inner walls of the intestine. Malignant polyps must be removed as soon as possible in order to avoid a cancer risk.

Scientists also believe that a cancer runs in the family. In other words, it is inherited from the parents. If any close relative, such as a brother, sister, father or mother had developed a colorectal cancer, then the chances are, even you will develop one.

Genetic alteration or changes in genes like the HNPCC (Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colon Cancer gene), and the APC is the other cause of this disease. A long and extended case of intestinal inflammation, especially in cases of ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease, also causes a colorectal cancer.

Scientists are also looking into the habits of the patients. Although not conclusive in facts, they believe, a high-fat content diet lacking in fiber, calcium and folate may increase the risk of this disease. Smoking is another factor, which is under close observation.

Therefore, we can conclude by saying that in order to avoid the Carcinoma of Colon and Rectum we must go for regular medical check-ups after attaining a certain age. Only then we can dream of a life sans the colorectal cancer.