Colon cancer (or colorectal cancer) is one of the most common cancers in the U.S. It happens when growths (polyps) in your colon turn malignant.
Blood in your stool and changes in bowel habits are common signs of colon cancer.
Treatment for colon cancer may include surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy.
Related services include:
Doctors define colon cancer as a disease where once harmless polyps become malignant. These polyps occur in the lining of the colon and rectum.
The colon is the first and longest part of the large intestine. It absorbs water and nutrients from the food you eat and changes the waste that's left over into stool. Your body stores stool in the rectum, which is the lower part of the large intestine.
Colorectal cancer is the 3rd most common cancer in the U.S. (besides skin cancer).
Anyone can get colon cancer, but it's more common among older people. The lifetime risk of getting colorectal cancer is about 1 in 23 for men, and 1 in 26 for women.
Because colon cancer is slow growing, early diagnosis can often lead to a complete cure. Screening tests like colonoscopies are crucial because they can catch colorectal cancer in its early stages, before you notice symptoms.
The most common type of colon cancer is an adenocarcinoma. These abnormal growths account for up to 95% of colon tumors.
Adenocarcinomas start as polyps in the lining of the bowel wall, in the cells that produce mucus.
Other types of cancer can affect the colon, but they're rare.
They include:
Nearly all colon cancers start as benign (noncancerous) polyps and slowly turn into cancer. Doctors aren't sure what triggers the change.
It may be that genes mutate and cause colon cancer. These changes to your DNA might happen during your lifetime, or you may be born with them.
Although the exact cause of colon cancer may be unclear, certain risk factors increase your chances of getting it.
You have a higher risk of getting colon cancer if you:
Colon cancer can lead to other health issues, including:
To reduce your risk of getting colon cancer, you should:
When you come to UPMC for colon cancer care, you'll see some of the world's most highly trained experts.
Your health care team may include:
These cancer experts work together to create a custom treatment plan for you.
Colon cancer doesn't tend to cause symptoms at first. You may not see colon cancer signs until the disease is more advanced.
Warning signs of colon cancer include:
Colon cancer has few — if any — symptoms in the early stages.
The best way to catch colon cancer early is through colon cancer screening. Routine screenings can uncover signs of disease before symptoms occur. If doctors catch colon cancer early, it's often easier to treat.
Your doctor will likely advise screening for colon cancer from about age 45 to 75.
Screening tests include:
If your screening test is abnormal, or if you have symptoms of colon cancer, your doctor will order more tests.
These may include:
Your treatment may depend on the stage of the disease.
Your care team may suggest one or more of the following:
Colectomy is often the first and main treatment for most people with colon cancer.
Surgeons remove the part of the colon at the cancer site and nearby tissues at risk of harboring cancer cells. This also includes the adjacent lymph nodes and any tissue attached to the cancer.
In nearly all cases, the surgeon then joins the bowel together, also known as anastomosis.
To learn the stage of colon cancer, your surgeon will send samples to a lab for an assessment.
Knowing the stage is vital because it lets your doctors determine the likelihood of tumor recurrence.
Based on that assessment, they may advise some people to have further chemo treatment.
