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Archive for the ‘Cancer Colon’ Category

After skin cancer, breast cancer and lung cancer, Colon cancer is the fourth most common cancer type occurring in women across the globe. There are many types of colon cancer: Carcinoid Tumors, Lymphoma, Melanoma and Sarcomas. However, the most common of all the colon cancers is Colon Carcinoma.

A colon in the human body is a long, coiled tube shaped organ, which helps in removing water from the digested food. It is also called the large intestine or the large bowel having four sections: Ascending Colon, Transverse Colon, Descending Colon and Sigmoid Colon. Colon cancer is a type of cancer, which forms in the colon tissues. It is often referred to as colorectal cancer. Colon cancers usually are adenocarcinomas, which mean that they begin in cells releasing mucus and other type of fluids.

Who Are At Risk Of Having Colon Cancer?

Colon cancer is responsible for most of the deaths elated to cancer, but doctors say that an early diagnosis can reduce the risk. Immediate action can also lead to full cure of a patient. The risk of having colon cancer increases, if you:

1-Have cancer elsewhere in your body

2-Have a personal history of breast cancer

3-Have a family history of colon cancer

4-Have colorectal polyps, crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis

Apart from the above stated reasons, the risk of having colon cancer also depends on your diet. Doctors say that chances of colon cancer may increase, if you are having red meat and a high fat with low fibre diet. Some genetic syndromes may be also responsible in developing colon cancer.

Symptoms of Colon Cancer

There are several symptoms indicating the presence of colon cancer in your body. Some of them include blood in your stool, narrow stools, tenderness & pain in the lower abdomen, unexplained anaemia, sudden weight loss, constipation, diarrhoea, intestinal obstruction and changes in bowel habits.

Take Immediate Action against the Menace

If you feel that you are having any of the symptoms, contact your doctor immediately. There are many physical exams, which needs to be done on your belly area. There are also imaging tests that are extremely helpful in diagnosing colon cancers. Again, tests similar to sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy confirm the presence of colon cancer.

One more test of detecting colon cancer is the fecal occult blood test (FEBT). After detection of colon cancer, additional tests known as staging is done to check the exact area in which the colon cancer has spread.

Treatment of Colon Cancer

The treatment of colon cancer is mainly dependent on the stage in which it has been detected. The most common treatments for colon cancer are chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy. Chemotherapy medicines kill the colon cancer cells, radiation therapy destroys the cancerous tissue present and surgery may be done to remove the cancer cells.

If treated at an early stage, nearly 90% of patients suffering from colon cancer may survive for minimum of five years after diagnosis. And in cases where the colon cancer does not recur within a period of five years, the patient is considered to be fully cured.

Did you know that in 2005 in the U.S.A., 26,781 men and 27,259 women died from colorectal (colon) cancer ?  Those are terrifying figures, yet they are true.  For men, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer after prostate and lung cancers. For women, this cancer is the third most common after breast and lung cancers.

Possibly we can reduce these statistics.  If everybody aged 50 or older had regular screening tests, as many as 60% of deaths from colorectal cancer could be prevented.

Colorectal cancer screening saves lives. Screening can find precancerous polyps, abnormal growths in the colon or rectum, so that they can be removed before turning into cancer. Screening also helps find colorectal cancer at an early stage, when treatment often leads to a cure.

If you are aged 50 or older, or think you may be at higher than average risk for colorectal cancer, speak with your doctor about getting screened.

What is the Colon ?

The colon is the end portion of our digestive system.  It is where foods that are not digested by the small intestine are stored for several hours up to a few days.  Also, most of the absorption of vitamins, minerals, and water take place in the colon.  The bulks of food that are no longer in use and toxins that are present from the food, are then eliminated from the body in the form of the feces.

 

What is Colon Cancer ?

Colon cancer can simply be defined as the cancer of the colon or the large intestine. Most cases of this illness start as a small and benign clumps of cells in the intestine, which is known as adenomatous polyps.  As time goes by, these polyps multiply rapidly and develop into cancers.

Polyps are hard to detect in an early stage because they produce only a few symptoms. Sometimes, no symptoms are manifested not unless the condition is in its later stages. Once the signs of a cancer appear the individual experiences a change in bowel habits, persistent abdominal pain and cramping, accumulation of gas and presence of blood in the stool.

Why do People Develop Colon Cancer ?

When the healthy cells in the colon are altered, they become at risk for the development of cancer. To keep the body functioning normally, the cells need to grow and divide in an orderly manner.  There are really times when cells grow out of control, even if new cells are not needed by the system.

The most common cause of the development of this disease occurs when one has a history of the illness and polyps in the family. Other known causes are inflammatory bowel disease, high alcohol intake, diabetes, diet that is high in fats and cholesterol, lack of exercise, obesity, smoking, and a diet that is deficient in vegetables, whole grains, and fruits.

 

What are the Available Colorectal Cancer Treatments ?

The three standard treatment options are chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery.

1. Chemotherapy – most oncologists recommend chemotherapy for colon cancers that are already in stage 2.  For stage 3 and stage 4 colon cancers, chemotherapy is still recommended but should be used in combination with biologic therapy in order to target specific cancer cells. The chemicals being used aids the body to get rid of the cancerous cells and prevent them from rapidly dividing. 

2. Radiation Therapy -individuals who are scheduled for surgery are advised to undergo radiation therapy to shrink the tumor.  After the surgery, another session of a radiation therapy is needed to prevent the tumor from ever coming back.  In some cases, there are tumors that can hardly be removed with surgery, so radiation therapy is used to destroy the cancer cells.

 

The most common type of radiation therapy that is used for the treatment of colon cancer is the external radiation. These kinds of therapies are quick but should be done frequently to insure that the cancerous cells are destroyed. 

3. Surgery – the most common surgery for colon cancer is the colostomy. Colostomy is a surgical procedure wherein the surgeon will create an opening in the abdominal wall, which becomes an alternative exit of wastes products from the colon.

 

“While colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the United States, it is the most preventable major cancer. Improvements in prevention, early detection, and treatment have greatly reduced the death toll from this disease,” said Dr. J. Randolph Hecht, clinical professor of medicine and director, GI Oncology Program, Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and member of the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center.

Be sure to take care of your health. There is only one of you !

Colon cancer:Colon cancer is also called as colorectal cancer. Colon cancer is referred as malignant tumor in which there will be an unusual growth of cells inside the colon or rectum than the required rate.

Colon cancer starts from the inner lining of the large intestine, this is the common part for the occurrence of colon cancer. So removal of these colonic polyps can prevent from the occurrence of colon cancer.

During the early stages of the colon cancer, there will be no symptoms or signs. Fully developed colon cancer results in causing symptoms like rectal bleeding, weight loss, bloodstream in the stool and bowel obstruction.

Causes of colon cancer:

Age: Generally aged people will be suffering from cancer due to the presence of polyps (glands) .if the age is above 50 years, there will be more chances of getting cancer due to the increase in risk factors.



Alcohol: Taking of alcohols will reduce the performance of body immune system which causes the chances of occurring cancer disease.



Diabetes: Diabetes leads to the occurrence of colon cancer due to insulin dependency at high rate.

Diet: Diet plays an important role in defining cancer. Taking fat foods with low fiber content will definitely causes cancer. Planning proper diet menu with rich fiber foods helps in preventing cancer from occurrence.

Environment: The surroundings in which you live and work also leads many risk factors for causing cancer. So, maintain proper surroundings.

Family pedigree: Family hereditary may cause cancer, but if you reduce the risk factors by staying healthy can prevent you from cancer.

Genetics: Many of the researchers suggest that 30 percent of the cancer cases have a genetic links.

Gender: Many of the research programs say that men are more often to face cancer than women.

Obesity: Obesity increases the chances of having colon cancer due to decrease in immune rate in the body system.

Polyps: polyps (unusual glands) increase the chance of having cancer. These polyps are due to excess growth of cells in the colon region or due to the family pedigree.



Smoking: This activity is the major risk factor in causing cancer. Smoking leads to lung cancer and also causes several side effects like digestion problems, burning sensation, headache and site blindness. So avoid smoking to prevent cancer from occurrence.

Colon cancer symptoms:

Sleep disorder: Due to severe illness, stress, emotional pain, usage of drugs and loneliness are the driving factors for causing sleep disorder. People suffering with colon cancer will generally face this disorder .

Nausea and vomiting: Body hormone changes, pains, body inflammation, poor blood flow and anxiety are the causing factors of nausea and vomiting.

Fatigue: Due to the treatment process of this colon cancer ,body faces severe exhaustion or tiredness.

Delirium: This side effect occurs in the last period of life .Delirium is nothing but the malfunction of the brain due to severe attack of cancer in the body.

Constipation: Constipation occurs during the early stage of the cancer. Constipation means slow movement of body waste through the body. Due to constipation the body faces illness.



Effects of colon cancer:

The risk factors for the cause of colon cancer are due to the family pedigree or growth of one or more polyps in the large intestine and also due to the bulge of the intestine. These risk factors can be reduced easily by taking low fat foods with rich fiber content.

Treatment of colon cancer:

Colon cancer can be treated easily by going for surgical operation for the process of removal of colon polyps (unusual growth of glands) in the large intestine. Surgery is carried to remove the cancer tumor. Surgery can be carried in the early stages of the tumor occurrence. Surgery is taken place only if the cancer is located in only one part of the body. During the surgery process the damaged lymph nodes are also removed along with the tumor. Active surveillance can be taken when the colon cancer grows slowly. Doctor keeps on monitoring the cancer growth in the body, if it starts to grow rapidly, then you can go for the treatment process at that very time for preventing it from re-occurrence.



Radiotherapy: Radiotherapy is a process of removing cancer cells by using high intensity x-rays. These high energy x-rays are aimed at the cancer affected part of the body to destroy the cancer cells .this process also causes damage to the normal cells for its side effects.



Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy drugs are called as anti-cancer drugs used to destroy cancer cells .there are many types of chemotherapy drugs available in the market for the treatment of cancer. These drugs are available in the form of pills but mostly given by drip into the blood veins. Chemotherapeutic drugs attack the  cancer cells by stopping their unusual growth. The nature of this head and neck cancer cells were brought to the normal condition by controlling the divisibility of the cells.



The chemotherapy drugs are given in the following form:

• In tablet or pill form(head and neck)

• By taking injection(Intravenous or intramuscular)

• Injection taking in the (Intrathecal)

Colon cancer is treated by the following mentioned programs. Colon cancer is treated as a cancerous disease because of its effects and causes. Treating of colon cancer must be carried in the early stages to reduce the risk factors entirely to stay safe.