Colon cancer is a dangerous form of cancer that starts in the colon, and then if nothing is done to treat it, it will start to spread. The causes of colon cancer have not been discovered yet, but scientists are researching its causes and new treatments that can help cure colon cancer and metastatic colon cancer.

The colon and the rectum for the large intestine. First, a tumor appears in the colon or sometimes in the rectum, and then it starts to grow, and the cancerous tissue spreads. In time it can reach other organs, such as the liver or the lungs.

In its early phases colon cancer can be treated quite easily, and the survival rate for patients diagnosed with stage 2 or 3 colon cancer is over 80%. However, if the cancer advances to the third or fourth stage, it will be really hard to cure it, the survival rate drops under 10%, but there still is hope.

This is why it is important to learn the signs and symptoms of colon cancer, and detect them early in order to start the treatment as soon as possible. The problem is that stage 1 or 2 colon cancer has almost no symptoms at all, and it's hard to detect this disease until it has already advanced too much.

These are the common symptoms that may indicate an early colon cancer or a high risk of developing colon cancer:

-stool that contains small amounts of blood

-bleeding from the anus, which appears more rarely, and may just be a coincidence, but it can also be a sign

If colon cancer has advanced, then many symptoms appear. The most commonly encountered ones are:

-pain in the abdomen

-vomiting and nausea

-larger amount of blood in the stool

-change in bowel habits

-sudden weight loss

-thin stool

-stomach cramps

-diarrhea

-fatigue or tiredness

If you experience any of the symptoms mentioned above then immediately consult a doctor. Some of them can be cause by other affections, but in either case it's important to seek medical attention. The doctors will perform some tests and clinical trials which will determine if you have or haven't got colon cancer,and how far has it spread.

If it has not spread much then it can easily be treated with a colon cancer surgery, that removes the parts of the large intestine where tumors are.

A stage IV colon cancer diagnose is a very bad news, and it will probably change your life, but remember that there still is hope.