Colon Cancer Detection

Colon cancer detection is not so tricky if one remains alert to the signs and symptoms. This disease has been one of the main killers of men (and not of women). As a matter of fact, it is the second leading causes of death especially in the Western part of the world. This cancer is caused by tumor cells growing in the colon or large bowels.

Colon cancer begins pretty much like the other cancers. It begins when a group of normal cells begining to divide at an unnatural rate. When they begin to get too many in the area where they are supposed to be, they soon crowd other cells out of the tissue. Other abnormal cells get displaced and get lodged in places near or far from its original location and begin to rapidly multiply in its new site. This is now what people call as metastasis.

There are a lot of ways and instances wherein colon cancer detection is made. These usually happen according to sequence. First off in the list are the signs and symptoms of colon cancer. With this, colon cancer makes people have the following manifestations:

• Change in bowel habit- if a person normally defecates three times a day, if he has colon cancer, he will defecate only once in every two days.

• Change in stool- usually, the stool of people with colon cancer will have flat and ribbon like stools. However, it should be noted that if this is the normal stool appearance of the person, then there is no absolute need to raise a concern.

• Gastrointestinal bleeding- people who have colon cancer will often have bloody stools. The blood may be bright red or the stool may be tarry black in appearance. However, there are some who let out normal looking stools with no sign of blood but when tested for occult blood, will have a positive result.

• Intestinal obstruction- this is usually manifested by those who have large tumors in the intestines already. People who have intestinal obstruction will have abdominal pain, constipation, constant feeling of fullness, bloated stomach, and the like. There are many more signs and symptoms related to colon cancer. However, these should not be relied upon since not only do these be caused by another illness, there are some individuals who do not manifest any of the signs and symptoms. With these individuals, colon cancer detection or diagnosis is often not made until everything is too late.

Once the signs and symptoms are examined, the next step in detecting colon cancer is the screening tests. These tests play a great deal in detecting colon cancer since they help the doctor find out if there really is a tumor causing all the troubles or some other disease condition is. There are a lot of colon cancer detection tests that doctors can do, such as:

• Digital Rectal Exam (DRE) - this is a test that is used for the early detection of colon cancer. High-risk individuals such as males aged 50 years old and above are recommended to submit for this procedure yearly to detect colon cancer and other abnormalities at an early stage. In this exam, the doctor puts a gloved finger into the rectum and feels the inside for any abnormalities such as bumps and inflammations. Many males find this uncomfortable and embarrassing which is why not many submit to this exam annually as recommended.

• Occult blood test- in this test, you have to submit a fresh stool specimen. This is then tested for occult blood or “hidden” blood. If the test yields positive results, it means that blood is present in the stool and there is bleeding in the areas where the stool passed or stayed for a while.

• Barium enema- in this procedure, you are given certain doses of barium, which happens to be a contrast dye. Thru it, the dye will go to the colon and enhance the visualization of the area by providing contrast to the colon. To view the colon, an X-ray of the large intestine is taken and read.

• Sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy- viewed as both a colon cancer detection and diagnostic tests, these are done by inserting a flexible sigmoidoscope or colonoscope to view the lower part of the colon or the colon itself. If any abnormality is seen, then the doctor takes a piece of tissue out as sample and then examined under a microscope later on. When this is done, the procedures become diagnostic.

Many of these tests are easy and quick and can be done even in the doctor’s office.

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