Cancer - Colon

Colorectal cancer, also called colon cancer or bowel cancer, includes cancerous growths in the colon, rectum and appendix. It is the third most common form of cancer and the second leading cause of death among cancers in the Western world. Many colorectal cancers are thought to arise from adenomatous polyps in the colon. These mushroom-like growths are usually benign, but some may develop into cancer over time. The majority of the time, the diagnosis of localized colon cancer is through colonoscopy. Therapy is usually through surgery, which in many cases is followed by chemotherapy.

Colorectal cancer can take many years to develop and early detection of colorectal cancer greatly improves the chances of a cure. Therefore, screening for the disease is recommended in individuals who are at increased risk. There are several different tests available for this purpose: digital rectal exam, fecal occult blood test, and endoscopy.
The treatment depends on the staging of the cancer. When colorectal cancer is caught at early stages it can be curable. However when it is detected at later stages it is less likely to be curable. Surgery remains the primary treatment while chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy may be recommended depending on the individual patient's staging and other medical factors.

...More at Wikipedia
 

Related Links:

• Colon and Rectal Cancer
• Colon Cancer Alliance
• US National Library of Medicine

Recent Hope Cube Blog Entries For Cancer - Colon

• Cancer Update - Or Not?! Fri, October 12, 2007 - [view]
  I have some great news to share! The surgery went very well.  I was in the hospital for six days.  I was a CCU patient for three days afterwards, then they switched me in the computer to a "regular" patient, but I still got the VIP treatment in CCU.  The regular floor was too busy, so they let me stay there the whole time.  I was so happy.  The CCU nurses at Witham are absolutely awesome!  The doctor was very pleased with treatment results.  The tumor had shrunk down to the size of a quarter!  He removed about a foot of my large intestine and the surrounding area.  He seems pretty confident the cancer hasn't metastasized to any other organs.  Of course, this was sent off to a pathologist to do the final staging of my cancer...