Colorectal cancer is a very common disease and leaves about 5% of all oncological diseases of the human body. In colon cancer, it is in the rectum that tumors are most often localized.
The rectum is one of the main parts of the digestive system. After the absorption of nutrients from the food eaten in the small intestine, the remnants pass into the colon. It removes water, and the waste is temporarily moved to the rectum, which makes up the last twenty centimeters of the intestine. And already from it waste leaves the body through the anus. Colorectal cancer is usually more common in men and after the age of forty.
The symptoms of colorectal cancer are small:
• possible changes in intestinal motility causing constipation or diarrhea;
• visiting the toilet, there is a feeling of not completely emptying the intestines;
• bleeding from the anus;
• pain in the abdomen.
Oncological tumors of the rectum grow slowly, and clinical symptoms appear gradually. Manifestations of the disease become pronounced when the cancer gains its strength and reaches large sizes. Therefore, it is so important to observe your body, which will always make it clear that something is wrong with it.
Only your doctor can diagnose the presence of a tumor. Indeed, so often, patients whose blood flow was observed during defecation did not go to the doctor, considering this a consequence of hemorrhoids, and made an irreparable mistake. It turned out that it was too late to treat colon cancer, metastases spread to other organs.
Unfortunately, modern medicine, diagnosing rectal cancer in patients, cannot determine the causes of the development of this cancer . An important role is played by lifestyle, and what kind of food you prefer. It depends on this volume of feces, speed of movement, their components, the structure of the bacterial flora.
Studies have shown that when eating food, which slows down the progression of the intestines of its contents, there is a prolonged exposure to its walls with substances that provoke the appearance of tumors. Also, a small physical activity, or lack thereof in general, can be called a provoking factor, since an active lifestyle positively affects intestinal motility.
There are also factors contributing to an increased risk of this disease:
• age limit after fifty;
• genetic predisposition;
• the presence of polyps in the rectum;
• previous inflammatory processes of the intestine;
• unbalanced nutrition;
• overweight.
It is not difficult for a qualified doctor to diagnose colorectal cancer, since the finger method allows examination to identify a tumor at a distance of up to 20 cm, counting from the anus. The entire rectum is examined with a rectoscope, a special hollow metal tube with a light source at the end.
Also, research methods include x-rays and internal ultrasound (ultrasound), which allows you to estimate the percentage of tumor growth. With the help of ultrasound it is also possible to detect the presence of metastases in the liver and in the lymph nodes. Modern medicine does not stand still and in diagnostics both computer and positron emission tomography are used, which are new products of medical technologies.
Identifying colorectal cancer is only the beginning, it is much more difficult to cure it. For this, several treatment methods are used:
• the surgical method - a malignant tumor and the rest, which must be removed, are excised through the anus or through the abdominal cavity (a special incision is made);
• method of radiation therapy, in which the patient is exposed to a high dose;
• a method of chemotherapy, when drugs are introduced into the body that destroy cancer cells.