Everything you need to know about Colorectal Cancer

Author: Jenelledave

The term bowel cancer or colorectal cancer describes tumours or lumps in the large intestine (bowel). Tumours occur when the cell division becomes abnormal and the cells start to grow rapidly forming a mass of tissue; the mass of extra tissue is called a tumour. These tumours or lumps can be benign or malignant. The term malignant refers to the abnormal growth of cells which can spread elsewhere to other parts of the body whereas benign tumours do not spread and grow locally.
Colorectal cancer is a very common cancer in Australia. Studies have shown that bowel cancer will affect about 1 in 20 persons in Australia and the cancer incidence is said to increase markedly with age.
There is no exact reason for the cause of most bowel cancers but there are a few risk factors which can increase the risk of developing colorectal cancer. The most common risk factor includes family history; about 10 – 15 % of colorectal cancer cases are said to be hereditary. A person is more susceptible to bowel cancer if his/her family had bowel cancer cases in the past. Some people may develop bowel cancer more than once; new cancer cells could develop in other parts of the body. Diet is another important reason behind bowel cancer. If a person's diet is low in fibre and high in fat, the chances of developing bowel cancer goes up significantly.

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In many cases, people are not aware of the symptoms of bowel cancer and as a result of which cancer may advance in stage making it hard to cure. Here are the common symptoms of colorectal cancer:

• Blood in the stool
  
• Changes in bowel habits
  
• Abdominal pain or stomach cramps
  
• Fatigue
  
• Weight loss
  

Diagnosis:
Early diagnosis includes stool testing to find blood. To get accurate results, the person is advised to eat foods that are rich in fibre before stool testing.
Treatment:
An operation is carried out as the primary treatment to remove the tumorous part of the colon and an adjacent section of bowel, plus the lymph glands that the tumour drains into. Apart from surgery, other common treatments for colorectal cancer include radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Radiation therapy is a treatment therapy often used with rectal cancers where radiation is used to destroy rapidly growing cancer cells usually before operation, whereas chemotherapy is a treatment method which includes usage of drugs to destroy cancerous cells, especially in cases where the tumour has spread to the lymph glands.


Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/cancer-articles/everything-you-need-to-know-about-colorectal-cancer-7193043.html

About the Author
Jenelle is based in Australia since 30 years. She has been writing about cancer and other health related issues.