Cancer is the name for a disease that can affect cells from all the organs and body's 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.



The colon's wall is structured into: the lining layer, the muscular layer for the lining, the support tissue for lining layers, also known as submucosa, the muscle, and the outside covering layer (serosa).

The colon cancer begins in the lining layer and as time goes by it passes in the next layers and then in the local lymph nodes and then into other organs giving metastasis.

There are symptoms of colon cancer but most of them are corresponding to other diseases too like: inflammatory bowel disease, diverticulosis, and irritable bowel syndrome. Generally the symptoms occur only after the cancer has developed in the colon for some time. Patients come at the hospital because they are constipated, or have diarrhea for more than a week. Sometimes people observe that their stool is much thinner than before and that it comes with blood. They might be feeling abdominal pain, cramps, and bloating. Most of the patients loose a lot of weight in a short period of time and they feel that they have not defecated sufficiently.

Doctors believe that colon cancer is developing from polyps situated in the large intestine. These polyps are considered to be benign but left untreated for years they can transform in malign tumors. There are several factors that increase the risk of developing colorectal cancer: those who have a family history of colon cancer or other type of cancer are at risk; those who drink alcohol and have adopted western diets, are obese, are smoking and also follow a diet that is rich in proteins and fats and low in fiber are at risk to develop colorectal cancer. Also, people who suffer of Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, diabetes, and familial adenomatous polyposis are exposed at a greater risk than others. There is a type of nonpolyposis colorectal cancer syndrome which also occurs in the same family members but now people who are at risk can be identified through genetic screening.

Sometimes patients feel that they have something in the abdomen when they press on it, like a lump, or fluid. Some might even say they have jaundice and enlarged lymph nodes.

Tests must be done in order to see if there are blood loses; anemia and liver damage. The CT scan is very useful in these cases as it can show the presence of the tumor in the colon, lymph nodes and nearby tissues.

In the process of diagnosing colon cancer biopsy is very important. A small fragment of the tissue doctors believe to be abnormal is taken and analyzed at the microscope. Doctors depend on the biopsy a lot. If the biopsy tells them the patient has cancer than the doctors will next stage the disease and search for a proper treatment method.

In stage 0: the cancerous tumor affects only the inner layer of the colon or the rectal lining.

Stage I: the tumor has spread deeply in the inner line of the colon or rectum but has not broken through the colon wall yet.

Stage II: the tumor has broken through the colon wall but has not spread to the lymph nodes yet.

Stage III: the lymph nodes got affected by the tumor.

Stage IV: the cancer has spread and affected other organs like lungs and liver.

Depending on what stage the cancer is found the doctors will apply a certain treatment like surgery, laparoscopy, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Sometimes these methods of therapy can be combined in order to increase their efficiency.