Introduction
Colorectal cancer is not talked about enough and yet, it’s so commonly found in the human population today. According to American Cancer Society, the lifetime risk of developing is “1 in 23 for men and 1 in 25 for women.” Looking at the numbers, it’s the second most common cause of cancer deaths in the US and people under the age of 55 are more likely to develop this disease. Though the overall outlook of people diagnosed with colorectal cancer has decreased, I would argue that an estimation of over 200,000 US cases per year is a significant number.
Factors
What is colorectal cancer? Colorectal, or colon cancer for short, is a disease in which too many clumps of cancerous cells called “polyps” form at the digestive tract’s lower end. The polyps aren’t always cancerous. In fact, most colon polyps start out harmless! But with time, they have the potential to develop into cancerous cells. Which is why people over the age of 45 are highly recommended to seek professional screenings to check for any cancerous polyps and if found, remove those polyps before it’s too late. Though, colon cancer can typically occur at any age, as the statistics have been provided earlier in my introduction.
However, that’s only one way to develop colon cancer – there are multiple! Inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis also increase the risk of colon cancer by continuous irritation, caused by inflammation, within the intestinal lining of the colon and rectum. Family genetics that involve carrying these cancerous cells could also increase the risk.
Last and most importantly, lifestyle habits contribute greatly to increasing your chances of diagnosing colon cancer. The CDC lists a few that include lack of regular physical activity, an everyday unhealthy or undernourished diet, and tobacco usage. This would cause constipation, pain in bowel diseases, and in addition to inflammation activity within your body.
Treatment
In the National Cancer Institute’s words, colon cancer is “a highly treatable and often curable disease when localized to the bowel.” Most people would go through surgery or different types of therapy to overcome colon cancer.
Surgeries include laparoscopic, robotic, radiofrequency ablation (RFA), and colostomy for rectal cancer. Side effects of surgery may cause diarrhea, constipation, or irritation around the stomach if a colostomy is performed. Radiation therapy’s a process of cancer cells being destroyed by using high-energy X-rays and they include external-beam, stereotactic, intraoperative, etc. There are also other therapies based on medications, which must be drugs prescribed by an oncologist to proceed: chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy. Side effects vary from fatigue to rashes to nausea, depending on which drug you choose.
Colorectal cancer, like most cancers do, has different stages. It ranges from stage zero: the removing of a polyp, to stage four: the cancerous cells are being spread all over the bodies and are infecting your other organs. At stage four, the highest stage, a combination of therapies and surgeries may be necessary to slow the spreading and shrink the cancerous tumor. Therefore, treatment’s also dependent on how deep you are into colon cancer.
In conclusion, you might want to check in with your doctor if you're experiencing any symptoms like colorectal cancer. If you're not, still check! You'd be surprised at how many people fell victim to cancer despite living a healthy and nourished life! And with age, the chances of you being diagnosed are no longer decreasing.
References
American Cancer Society. (n.d.). Key Statistics for Colorectal Cancer. Retrieved from American Cancer Society: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/colon-rectal-cancer/about/key-statistics.html#:~:text=Overall%2C%20the%20lifetime%20risk%20of,risk%20factors%20for%20colorectal%20cancer.
Axelrad, J. E., Lichtiger, S., & Yajnik, V. (2016, May 28). Inflammatory bowel disease and cancer: The role of inflammation, immunosuppression, and cancer treatment. Retrieved from National Library of Medicine: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4873872/#:~:text=Patients%20with%20IBD%20develop%20colon,2%2C%20and%20mutation%20in%20tumor
Cancer.Net. (2023, September). Colorectal Cancer: Types of Treatment. Retrieved from Cancer.Net: https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/colorectal-cancer/types-treatment
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). What Is Colorectal Cancer? Retrieved from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/colorectal/basic_info/what-is-colorectal-cancer.htm
Mayo Clinic. (n.d.). Colon Cancer. Retrieved from Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/colon-cancer/symptoms-causes/syc-20353669
National Cancer Institute. (n.d.). Colon Cancer Treatment (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version. Retrieved from National Cancer Institute: https://www.cancer.gov/types/colorectal/hp/colon-treatment-pdq#:~:text=Cancer%20of%20the%20colon%20is,the%20ultimate%20cause%20of%20death. Assessed and Endorsed by the MedReport Medical Review Board