What is colon cancer?
And what are its symptoms?
What are the symptoms of its onset?
What is the difference between colon cancer symptoms and irritable bowel syndrome?
What is colon cancer?
Colon cancer is the growth of cancerous cells in the colon, the long tube that helps carry digested food to the rectum.
Colon cancer develops from benign tumors, or colon polyps, in the inner lining of the colon.
Health care providers undergo screening tests that detect precancerous polyps before they become cancerous.
Colon cancer that is not detected or treated may spread to other areas of the body.
Thanks to early screening tests, early treatment and new types of treatment, fewer people are dying of colon cancer, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
What are the symptoms of early colon cancer?
Colon cancer may not show any symptoms, especially in its early stages, so the tests are effective in finding polyps and early detection of colorectal cancer.
If you are over the age of 50, it is advised to undergo regular colon cancer screening tests, according to the King Hussein Cancer Center in Jordan.
Symptoms of colon cancer
You can get colon cancer without showing symptoms.
If you do have symptoms, you may not be sure if the changes in your body are signs of colon cancer, because some of the symptoms of colon cancer are similar to those of less severe cases, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Common symptoms of colon cancer include:
blood in the stool
Talk to your healthcare provider if you notice blood in the toilet after a bowel movement or after wiping, or if the stool looks dark or bright red.
It's important to remember that blood in your stool doesn't mean you have colon cancer. Other things, such as hemorrhoids or eating beets, can change the appearance of your stool.
But it's always a good idea to see your healthcare provider any time you notice blood in your stool.
Persistent changes in bowel habits (how do you poop?)
Talk to your healthcare provider if you have persistent constipation and/or diarrhea, or if you feel like you still need to have a bowel movement after going to the bathroom.
Tummy ache
Talk to your health care provider if you have abdominal pain with no known cause that doesn't go away or hurts a lot.
Many things can cause abdominal pain, but it's always a good idea to see your healthcare provider if you're experiencing unusual or recurring abdominal pain.
stomach bloating
Like abdominal pain, there are many things that can make you feel bloated.
Talk to your health care provider if your flatulence lasts more than a week, gets worse, or if you develop other symptoms such as vomiting or blood in or in your stool.
Unexplained weight loss
It is a noticeable decrease in your body weight when you are not trying to lose it.
vomiting
Talk to your health care provider if you vomit periodically for no known reason or if you vomit a lot in 24 hours.
Fatigue and feeling short of breath
These are symptoms of anemia, and anemia may be a sign of colon cancer.
How many years does a colon cancer patient live?
For colon cancer, the 5-year survival rate for people is 64% overall.
If the cancer is diagnosed at a localized stage, the survival rate is 91%.
If the cancer has spread to surrounding tissues or organs and/or nearby lymph nodes, the 5-year survival rate is 72%.
But if colon cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, the 5-year survival rate is 14%, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Cancer.net website.
Can colon cancer be cured permanently?
Colon cancer is a largely treatable disease, and is often curable when localized to the intestines.
Surgery is the primary form of treatment and leads to a cure in 50% of patients, according to the National Cancer Institute in the United States.
Recurrence of disease after surgery is a major problem and is often the ultimate cause of death.
How does a colon cancer patient feel?
See the Colon Cancer Symptoms section.
The cure rate for colon cancer
As mentioned above, the 5-year survival rate for people is generally 64%.
Diagnosing cancer at a localized stage makes the survival rate 91% (Getty Images)
The difference between colon cancer symptoms and irritable bowel syndrome
IBS can be difficult to diagnose;
It is not something a doctor can see, feel, or detect under a microscope, and symptoms come and go.
The main symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome are constipation, diarrhea, or a combination of the two, accompanied by abdominal pain.
A person with IBS may also experience one or more of the following:
Flatulence
mucus in the stool
Feeling that you haven't finished having a bowel movement (i.e. there is still stool in your bowels after a bowel movement)
Symptoms lessen after defecation
On the other hand, diarrhea, constipation, and abdominal pain are all symptoms of colon cancer. However, there are additional symptoms that are more worrisome, such as:
Sudden and unexplained weight loss
Rectal bleeding
blood in the stool
Fatigue
Discomfort or urge to defecate when not needed
Bloating or feeling full all the time
Change in appetite
Symptoms of colon cancer in women
See the Colon Cancer Symptoms section.
Is colon cancer rapidly spreading?
In general, colorectal cancers tend to be slow-growing, gradually enlarging and eventually penetrating the bowel wall.
When it spreads, it is usually through invasion of nearby lymph nodes.
In fact, cancer cells may enter a lymph node even before the tumor penetrates the intestinal wall, and the most common sites for distant metastases are the liver, lungs and brain, according to the National Cancer Foundation website.
Colon cancer treatment
According to the King Hussein Cancer Center, colon cancer treatment can include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, monoclonal antibody therapy, and post-treatment care.
The surgery is not effective for patients in the advanced stages of colon cancer that has spread, in which case doctors resort to palliative care.