Understanding Colon Cancer: Causes, Symptoms, and Management

What is it?

Colon cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the colon. it can be serious, but there are many ways to treat it.
The colon is part of your body’s digestive system, which process food and helps pass waste material out of the body. The colon is the main part of the large intestine and is about 5 feet long.
Colon cancer often begins as a growth called a polyp inside the large intestine, that slowly evolved into a malignant tumor.
Like most cancer types, colon cancer is divided into stages, according to how much it has spread out of the intestine into the rest of your body.

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Additional names

This group contains additional names:
- Colorectal Cancer (CRC)

Signs & symptoms

Signs of colon cancer include blood in the stool, change in bowel habits (size, texture or frequency), abdominal pain and weakness.
These and other signs and symptoms may be caused by colon cancer or by other conditions.

Diagnosis

Your doctor will ask you about your symptoms and perform a physical exam. The following tests might be done next:
-blood tests to check for any abnormalities and tumor markers
-Colonoscopy- a procedure to look inside the colon for polyps, abnormal areas, or cancer. If abnormal area was found, a biopsy, in which a small piece of tissues is taken out so it can be viewed under a microscope, will be done.
-Imaging tests such as a CT scan.

Treatment

There are different types of treatment for patients with colon cancer. The treatment depends on the type of cancer, its stage and your general health:
-Surgery – to remove the cancer
-Chemotherapy- medication that will kill cancerous cells or stop their growing.
-Radiation therapy- high-energy x-rays or other types of radiation used to kill cancer cells or keep them from growing.
-Targeted therapy- drugs or other substances that are aimed to attack specific cancer cells.

☝️ This is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult with your physician before making any medical decision.

Learn more about our editorial process for content accuracy.

Source of Information - We analyze big data of more than 23 million patients de-identified medical records from the following sources:

National Institution of Health ∙ World Health Organization ∙ University of Illinois hospital