Through screening tests, colon cancer can be detected before symptoms develop. This is when the cancer is most curable. Your doctor will perform a physical exam and press on your belly area. The physical exam rarely shows any problems, although the doctor may feel a lump (mass) in the abdomen.
Some tumors may grow big enough to be felt from the outside of the body. If there is bleeding inside, it usually isn't obvious. However, a person may feel weak or tired because of severe anemia caused by loss of blood.
Persistent abdominal discomfort, such as cramps, gas or pain. A feeling that your bowel doesn't empty completely. Weakness or fatigue. Unexplained weight loss.
Abdominal pain, aches, or cramps may be symptoms of colorectal cancer. If you have any symptoms that worry you, be sure to see your doctor right away.
Abdominal symptoms such as pain, bloating or rectal bleeding are often signs of an abnormal process in the left side of your colon. “Right-sided colon cancers tend to be asymptomatic or cause these symptoms only when they are at an advanced stage and fairly large.
Diarrhea, constipation, or feeling that the bowel does not empty completely. General abdominal discomfort, such as frequent gas pains, bloating, fullness and/or cramps. Constant feeling of fatigue or tiredness.
Colon cancer is considered a silent disease. Most of the time there are no symptoms. The symptoms that people may experience include a change in bowel habits, abdominal pain, blood in the stool, and weight loss. If individuals have these symptoms, the disease may already have advanced.
Symptoms and diagnosis
A patient may experience one or more of the following symptoms: Rectal bleeding. Changes in bowel habits (frequency of bowel movements, constipation, incontinence, urgency for bowel movements) Abdominal pain.
Most colorectal cancers start as a growth on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. These growths are called polyps. Some types of polyps can change into cancer over time (usually many years), but not all polyps become cancer. The chance of a polyp turning into cancer depends on the type of polyp it is.
The colon's winding path through the abdomen can mean that a person feels pain throughout this area of the body if they experience colon disruptions. However, it is also possible to feel pain only in a specific spot. Some people may also feel pain in the rectum, just above the anus.
Cancer of the colon is a highly treatable and often curable disease when localized to the bowel. Surgery is the primary form of treatment and results in cure in approximately 50% of the patients. Recurrence following surgery is a major problem and is often the ultimate cause of death.
Diagnosing bowel polyps
Bowel polyps are usually found when your bowel is being looked at for another reason or during screening for bowel cancer. If polyps are found, a colonoscopy or CT colonography is needed to view the whole of the large bowel and remove the polyps.
Colon cancer, or cancer that begins in the lower part of the digestive tract, usually forms from a collection of benign (noncancerous) cells called an adenomatous polyp. Most of these polyps will not become malignant (cancerous), but some can slowly turn into cancer over the course of about 10-15 years.
Frequent Gas And Bloating
Any type of obstruction in the colon, like a tumor, can disrupt your ability to pass gas causing these symptoms.
Excluding skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in the United States. The American Cancer Society's estimates for the number of colorectal cancer cases in the United States for 2022 are: 106,180 new cases of colon cancer. 44,850 new cases of rectal cancer.
The exact cause of colorectal cancer is not known, but certain risk factors are strongly linked to the disease, including diet, tobacco smoking and heavy alcohol use. Also, people with certain hereditary cancer syndromes or a family history of colorectal cancer have a high risk of developing the disease.
Usually if a suspected colorectal cancer is found by any screening or diagnostic test, it is biopsied during a colonoscopy. In a biopsy, the doctor removes a small piece of tissue with a special instrument passed through the scope. Less often, part of the colon may need to be surgically removed to make the diagnosis.
Cysts that appear uniform after examination by ultrasound or a computerized tomography (CT) scan are almost always benign and should simply be observed. If the cyst has solid components, it may be benign or malignant and should have further evaluation.
Lumps that could be cancer might be found by imaging tests or felt as lumps during a physical exam, but they still must be sampled and looked at under a microscope to find out what they really are. Not all lumps are cancer. In fact, most tumors are not cancer.
Many benign neoplasms don't cause any symptoms at all. But if they grow large enough to press on bodily structures, they may cause: Bleeding (for example, with a fibroid in the uterus). Headaches, seizures or trouble seeing (for example, with a brain tumor).
Colorectal cancer can occur in young adults and teenagers, but the majority of colorectal cancers occur in people older than 50. For colon cancer, the average age at the time of diagnosis for men is 68 and for women is 72. For rectal cancer, it is age 63 for both men and women.
Myth: I don't need a colonoscopy because I'm not having any symptoms. Fact: Many people are diagnosed with colon cancer when they are feeling just fine. People don't think they can have colon cancer if they feel OK, but they most certainly can.
Colorectal cancer might not cause symptoms right away, but if it does, it may cause one or more of these symptoms: A change in bowel habits, such as diarrhea, constipation, or narrowing of the stool, that lasts for more than a few days. A feeling that you need to have a bowel movement that's not relieved by having one.