Colon Rectal Cancer Treatment

Being diagnosed with colon rectal cancer is a stressful time for anyone. Colon rectal cancer occurs when there are malignant cancer cells that develop and grow in the tissues of the colon. The colon is part of human's digestive system. Having a healthy digestive system is important to ensuring our overall sense of well-being. It is the hub where wastes are removed promptly out of our body and it is responsible for processing and absorbing all the crucial nutrients, vitamins, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, water and minerals.

Not everybody falls into the high-risk group of patients who develop colon rectal cancer. Some people are more at risk than the others. The factors include someone who is at or over the age of fifty, someone who has a family medical history of colon cancer, a personal history of suffering from ovarian cancer, rectal cancer, endometrium or breast cancer, and a history of having polyps in the colon. Polyps are small pieces of bulging tissues in your colon.

Other risk factors include hereditary conditions such as familial adenomatous polyposis and hereditary nonpolyposis. A medical history of ulcerative colitis which is finding ulcers in the lining of the large intestine or Crohn disease will also predispose you to colon cancer. Knowing these factors help us keep an eye on the health of our colon and make us more aware of the symptoms to watch out for.

Early diagnosis can often mean more effective treatment against colon cancer. So do not delay seeing a doctor if you notice a drastic change in your bowel habits, bloody stool, severe constipation, diarrhoea, thinner stool, sudden fatigue, vomiting, severe bloating and gas pains that just do not seem to go away. One of the reasons why you should always consult a doctor immediately after noticing these unusual and abnormal symptoms is because many of these symptoms are often also associated with other conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome or Crohn's disease.

It may take time for the doctor to get to the bottom of your condition and often with cancer, the sooner the correct diagnosis is given, the higher the chance you stand to beat this disease, time is indeed precious. Doctors could start with the standard physical examination to find lumps in your colon area and probe further into your health habits, family history of colon cancer and past illnesses. Faecal occult blood test is normally done for laboratory testing. Digital rectal examination can also be performed to help detect unusual growth in your rectum. Colonoscopy could also be used to look for polyps and abnormal areas. This procedure can remove a sample of polyps or tissues to test of signs of cancer.

Biopsy is normally conducted by a pathologist to check for cancerous cells. Colon rectal cancer can be generally defined in stage zero to stage four. The best treatment for stage zero colon cancer is local excision or a simple polypectomy. If the tumour is too big to be removed by local excision, then resection or anastomosis will be opted. Stage one follows the same treatment options. Apart from resection or anastomosis, stage two and three colon cancer may benefit from chemotherapy, radiation therapy or monoclonal antibody therapy after surgery. Stage four and recurring colon cancer will benefit from all of the above and for more severe cases may require surgery to remove parts of the other organs such as the liver, lungs and ovaries where cancer may have spread to and palliative therapy to relieve the symptoms rather than a cure.

There are many Colon Cancer Warning Signs which you need to be aware of, if cause early then colon cancer survivability is at it's greatest. Remember, if you experience something out of the normal then you need to seek medical advice as soon as possible.