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

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.