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Colon Cancer - Medical Negligence Compensation
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Colon cancer involves cancer of the large intestine or rectum. It usually starts as a benign polyp of the colon that becomes cancerous over years of time. Such polyps are called "adenomatous polyps". Not all adenomatous polyps become colon cancer but some do. This is why colonic polyps are removed via a colonoscope in a procedure called a colonoscopy. Colonoscopy can both treat early colon cancer and can prevent colon cancer from occurring.
Symptoms of colon cancer include changing bowel habits such as new onset diarrhea or constipation that lasts for longer than a few weeks. There can be blood mixed in with the stool when you defecate. You can have chronic abdominal cramping pain, gas or cramps. It can feel as though your bowels aren't emptying when you have a bowel movement. You can have weight loss you can't explain or chronic fatigue and weak feelings. In the early stages of colon cancer, symptoms are often absent and not everyone has all the symptoms. You should seek the advice of a doctor whenever you have the above symptoms, especially if you have a family history of colon cancer.
You have an increased risk of colon cancer if you have polypoid (finger-like) polyps or flat polyps of the colon. You also have an increased risk of colon cancer if you have an inherited gene mutation that triggers the growth of early polyps and early cancer. These include:
- Having familial adenomatous polyposis syndrome. This causes thousands of polyps to form on the lining of the colon wall and a greatly increased risk of getting cancer of the colon before age 40 years.
- Lynch syndrome or hereditary non-polyposis syndrome increases colon cancer risk, particularly before the age of 50. You can get other cancers with Lynch syndrome.
Other risk factors include being older. Age greater than fifty makes you at a higher risk for colon cancer. Being African-American increases the risk of colon cancer and if you have a personal history of polyps, you should be screened at an elevated rate for colon cancer. Having Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis put you at a greater risk of getting colon cancer later in life. Family history of colon cancer means you might have an increased risk of colon cancer. Eating a high fat diet or a low fiber diet can predispose you to having colon cancer. Having diabetes, a sedentary lifestyle and being overweight contribute to getting colon cancer. Smoking and alcohol use contribute to the risk of colon cancer. If you have had radiation to the stomach for another cancer, you can cause your colon to become cancerous.
There are several tests for colon cancer. There is no true blood test for colon cancer although there are cancer markers that can be used once you have cancer to monitor the progress of the disease. Doctors test for colon cancer using colonoscopy and can remove the polyps through the same device. Another test involves the use of IV contrast dye and x-rays to see the polyps or narrowing of the colon if the cancer has come to encroach upon the colon. This is called a double contrast barium enema. There is a test called a virtual colonoscopy, which is a CT scan that pieces together the entire large colon and can detect most polyps. This is more expensive than a colonoscopy test but it is more convenient.
Colon cancer comes in five stages. There is stage 0 cancer, where the cancer is just in the polyp and not past the lining of the colon. Stage I cancer is when the colon cancer has grown through the mucosa but not beyond the wall of the colon. Stage II is when the wall of the colon has been breached. Stage III is when lymph nodes have been found to be involved. Stage IV is when there is spread of cancer to distant sites, such as other organs of the body.
The treatment of colon cancer includes removal of polyps or of the tumor bulk itself. Sometimes the two ends of the colon are cut and the cancer in between is removed. The ends of the colon are attached to one another. Lymph nodes involved in cancer are removed as well. Chemotherapy is available in the management of higher stage colon cancer and radiotherapy is used to shrink the tumor bulk in later stages of colon cancer or even for single metastases. There are targeted drug therapies that act directly on advanced colon cancer tumors. These include drugs such as Avastin, Erbitux and Vectibix.