Polyps can be found in other parts of the body, besides the colon. In time, if you have these growths in your colon, you can develop colon cancer. The size and shape of the polyps varies. Almost all polyps that one has in the rectum are benign, that is to say that they do not cause colon cancer and do not cause any symptoms as well. As time goes by, so does the risk of developing colon cancer increases. If you have polyps and do not remove them, you will are much at risk of developing colon cancer. After five years the risk of colon cancer is only 3 percent, but in ten years time it goes as high as 10 percent. After almost twenty years from being diagnosed with polyps, the risk of developing colon cancer reaches almost 25 percent. If one has it' s polyps removed, the risk of having colon cancer is almost 2 percent, compared to almost eight if you do not remove them. Furthermore, if the polyps are removed by colonoscopy then the risk of developing colon cancer is reduced considerably.
On the other hand, if you do get diagnosed with colon cancer, there is no need to worry very much. The rate of colon cancer cure is very good. One of the most important factors of risk when talking about colon cancer is age. As older you get, as bigger the risk of developing colon cancer gets. Moreover, men are also more at risk of having colon cancer than women. In this type of cancer, the color of your skin also seems to be a factor. Black people are more at risk of having colon cancer than white people are. If you are a drinker or if you smoke, then the risk of developing colon cancer further increases. Exercise and a proper weight are important when talking about colon cancer. For example, if you are a sedentary person or if you have a "few " extra pounds, then the risk of colon cancer increases.
Studies have shown that if you do not eat enough vegetables or fruits, or if you smoke more than a pack of cigarettes a day, then the risk of having polyps is much grater, thus increasing the risk of developing colon cancer.
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Inherited colon cancer represents at about 5% of all the colon cancer cases. This type of cancer is caused by genetic abnormalities inherited from someone in you family. Often, people that have cases of colon cancer in their families present colonic polyps that can become cancerous. There are more types of polyps inlcuding familial adenomatous polyps. There are variants of colon cancer that present few if any polyps like the inherited non-polyposis cancer. There are some other types that occur very rarely like the Gardner's syndrome which is a variant of the familial adenomatous polyps cancer type and the Peutz-jeghers syndrome wich is not cancerous but it gives the patient a greater risk of developing colon cancer. Most families with a colon cancer presence have at least one of these types. Inherited colon cancer appear very often to young people, while sporadic (non-inherited) colon cancer appears very rarely before the age of 40.
Hereditary colon cancer specialists recommend that people that come from families with higher then normal colon cancer risk factor need to take regular tests even if they don't have any symptoms. The most effective and the most spread method to identify colon cancer is colonoscopy. A very small camera and a light attached to a tiny tube is inserted trough the rectum into the colon of the patient permitting physicians to check the inside of the colon for any signs of cancer. Signs of colon cancer like colonic polyps or adenomas are easy to identify using coloscopy. The familial adenomatous polyposis and the Gardners syndrome are characterized by a huge number of polyps (thousands). Cancer can be prevented by surgery if the diseased is found in time, in its precancerous stage. If the disease has reached the cancerous state it may be possible that surgery won't help. Colonoscopy should be performed even at the ages of 10 years for members of a family known to have a gene of one of these disease.
Even though inherited non-polyposis cancer isn't characterized by the presence of many polyps, colonoscopy remains the best way to diagnose it. Inherited non-polyposis cancer is usually accompanied with cancers of the small bowel, stomach, urinary tract, larynx, pancreas. One type of the inherited non-polyposis cancer, called the Lynch syndrome I, starts at a young age and it is usually found in the upper colon. Families that know they had inherited non-polyposis cancer in their bloodline should begin colonoscopy since the age of 20.
Lists with all the people with inherited colon cancer can be found at local hospitals. People known to have a higher risk should be encouraged to take regular colonoscopies from an early age. By using these lists lives can be saved by preventing colon cancer from appearing of curing it in its early phases.
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