Colorectal Cancer

1. What is colorectal cancer?
Cancer is the name for a disease that can affect cells from all the organs and bodys structures and is considered to be life threatening. The colon and rectum are a part of the large intestine and their function is to absorb nutrients and water from the food that passes through the intestine before it goes out of the body. Colorectal cancer is the disease that affects the cells from the colon and rectum creating a malign or benign tumor.

2. How can I know if I have colorectal cancer?
Some of the symptoms of this type of cancer are: diarrhea alternating with constipation and the feeling that the bowel has not emptied completely even after going to the bathroom. Also, seeing blood in the stool can be a clue for colorectal cancer. Abdominal pains and bloating can be present and feeling tiredness and vomiting can occur too.
These symptoms also appear in other affections and having them does not necessarily mean that you have colorectal cancer. A doctor will be able to diagnose your affection by performing some quick tests.

3. Why does colorectal cancer appear?
Scientists have not found out exactly why this disease occurs but they believe that if you follow a diet that is rich in proteins and fats and low in fiber you might develop cancer. Also, having a family history of colorectal cancer and breast or uterus cancer could be a risk for you. Drinking alcohol is also a factor that leads to cancer. If you have polyps on the inner wall of the intestine and you leave them untreated they can transform into malign tumors (meaning that cancer had occurred).

4. What data exist about the frequency of colorectal cancer?
In the whole world, colon cancer is the third leading cause of cancer in males and the fourth in women. It is quite rare in Asia and Africa but you can find it frequently in the Western world. Those who have adopted western diets are at risk to develop colorectal cancer. Scientist believe that in the close future 1 or 2 people out of every 100 will develop colorectal cancer after the age of 50.
Until now, 4 out of 10 patients are diagnosed with cancer only after their disease had advanced to a next stage, meaning that treatment options will not be available in such a large number and probably the most indicated procedure will be surgery. Only in a small number of cases patients will require drug treatment.

5. How can colorectal cancer be treated?
Treating cancer is made after staging the disease, meaning that the doctors will try to find out how much the cancer has spread. The most indicated procedure is surgery because it removes the tumor. In some cases the tumor will not reappear. Sometimes, during the surgery the doctor will be forced to perform a colostomy.
If the cancer has spread, chemotherapy or radiation therapy will be recommended because it will kill the cancerous cells and will stop them from dividing and spreading even more.

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