What causes colon cancer?

18 September, 2012

Colon cancer affects the large intestine or colon, which is the lower part of the digestive system. If the cancerous cells affect the last part of colon, then it is known as colorectal cancer.

COLON OR the large intestine is the longest part of the digestive system. The water and the salt content from the solid waste are extracted in the colon before getting excreted from the body through the anus. The colon cancer usually starts with adenomatous polyps (noncancerous tumors), but some of these polyps can grow into malignant tumors gradually. This malignant colon cancer invades the healthy tissues near the tumor and further leads to many complications.

After the formation of malignant tumor, the cancerous cells invade the other parts of the body by traveling through the blood and lymph system. The colon cancer is derived from the precancerous polyps that exits in the large intestine. The different types of polyps are adenomas, hyperplastic polyps and inflammatory polyps. Adenomas are the polyps which can become cancerous, but these can be easily removed during colonoscopy. Though hyperplastic polyps are rare, but these can also lead to colon cancer. Lastly the inflammatory polyps are the ones that occur after the inflammation of the colon and may become cancerous.

The symptoms of colon cancer depend on different factors like the part of the colon which has been affected, how it has spread and how big the tumor is. Usually the individuals with colon cancer does not experience the symptoms in the early stage. But as the cancer grows gradually, the person can experience the symptoms of colon cancer and the symptoms includes diarrhea, constipation, narrow stools, change in consistency of the stools, rectal bleeding, cramps in the abdomen, pain during bowel movement, weakness, fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, anemia and weight loss.

The treatment of colon cancer depends on many criteria such as the type and stage of the cancer, medical history and age. There are many treatments for cancer, but the most common options for treatment of colon cancer are chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy. The surgery of colon cancer is known as colectomy and in this surgery the doctor will remove the part of the colon that contains the cancer causing cells.

The medications for the colon cancer are mostly taken in combination, as the combination of drugs works much better than a single drug. The most commonly used medications for colon cancer are fluorouracil with leucovorin, fluorouracil, leucovorin and oxaliplatin and capecitabine with irinotecan or oxaliplatin.