Colon cancer is known as a silent killer. Many people who have it are unaware of the danger until symptoms show up. When this happens, the disease has progressed to the point where treatment is more difficult. As scary as this sound, colon cancer remains quite treatable when caught early thanks to having a colonoscopy, an extraordinarily effective preventive screening tool.
Risk Factors and Symptoms
Just like any cancer, colon cancer does not always follow a set script in terms of causes and risk factors. However, there are commonly acknowledged risk factors that increase a person’s likelihood of contracting the disease. These include the following:
• A personal or family history of colon cancer or polyps
• Race (African-Americans are more likely to get it)
• Inflammatory bowel disease (e.g. ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease)
• Obesity
• Cigarette smoking
• Lack of physical activity
• Alcohol abuse
• Diabetes
• Abdominal radiation for childhood malignancies
While advanced polyps can appear in the colons of people without symptoms, there are some warning signs that can indicate it’s time to see a doctor. Possible symptoms of colon cancer include the following:
• Intestinal bleeding
• Anemia
• Change in bowel habits
• Unexplained weight loss
• Abdominal pain
• Pencil-thin stools
Patients should keep an eye out for any of the above symptoms, but just because no symptoms are present does not mean everything is fine in the colon. Colon cancer is often called a “silent killer” because by the time symptoms develop, it can often be too late. “Waiting for symptoms to develop could prohibit detection at a curable stage,” said Steve Venturatos, MD, a gastroenterologist with Metropolitan Gastroenterology Associates at West Jefferson Medical Center.
Sadly, a common misconception Dr. Venturatos hears from patients is that if they’re asymptomatic, they don’t need to consider screening as long as they have no family history of the disease. “The concept of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ doesn’t apply when your health is at stake,” Dr. Venturatos said.
Prevention and Treatment
Colonoscopy remains the gold standard for discovering colon cancer or polyps that might turn into cancer one day. The good news for patients is that the procedure has become easier over the past several years. While people still have to endure a laxative (often split into two doses now) to prep for the colonoscopy, anesthesia has gotten better and patients typically do not remember the procedure at all. In addition to better anesthesia, the technology has improved. The scopes are now more flexible and easier to maneuver. Enhanced HD equipment gives doctors a better look inside a patient’s colon.
For a person with no family history of colon cancer and no symptoms, the recommended age to begin screenings via colonoscopy is 50. However, since African-Americans are at a higher risk for colon cancer, the recommended age for African-Americans to begin screening is 45. Studies have indicated that men are more likely to suffer from colon cancer than women, but men are not yet advised to receive screenings earlier than women.
Physicians have also become more knowledgeable about the disease in the past decade. They’re now more aware of the importance of early flat lesions in the right colon and the increased risk of these lesions rapidly transforming into something more sinister.
Treatment varies. Some very early cancers and most pre-cancerous polyps can be removed during the colonoscopy with no further treatments necessary. However, a patient will need surgery in most cancer cases. Chemotherapy and/or radiation may also be necessary, depending on the stage of the cancer when it was detected.
If it is discovered early, colon cancer is very treatable. Stopping it before it becomes incurable is what makes the work rewarding for Dr. Venturatos. “The work remains exciting because of our opportunity to make a major difference in people’s lives,” Dr. Venturatos said. “There is little more rewarding than discovering and removing an early cancer or pre-malignant lesion.”
Healthfitnessmag.com
