Colon cancer shows symptoms like constipation, bloated stomach, blood in your poop, diarrhea, fatigue, frequent gas, cramps, and severe weight loss. In the early days of this cancer you will see no signs or any symptoms like all these, the early screening would be a better option to find the development of colorectal cancer.

Colon cancer is the third most cancer which is found in a cancer patient and its number of patients are increasing and do not have very many options to cure colon cancer. People who are older than 50 are majorly diagnosed with colon cancer.

What is Colon Cancer?

Colon cancer or colon rectal cancer is a cancer which develops in your large intestine. It shows no symptoms early but you can prevent that by a screening process through hospitals. In the initial time a small area is damaged and formed a clump named polyps that can be grown into a cancerous colon. However, it takes decades to grow as a cancerous form to affect any further.

Causes of Colon Cancer

The cause of colon cancer is still unknown however, researchers found that it is a mutation of healthy cells into colon polyps which later becomes cancerous. It also depends on genetics, your lifestyle and surrounding where you live and other factors related to an individual's life. Who have a higher risk of getting this type of cancer:

• People Who Are Older Than 50: People who are older than 50 have the highest chances of getting colon cancer because 9 out of 10 people are older than 50 having colon cancer.

• Having a Family History of Colon Cancer: Colon cancer can be inherited from your blood relations to you. If your blood-relation gets colon cancer before 45 then, your chances of getting colon cancer could be higher.

• Regular Alcohol Consumption: Drinking alcohol in moderation can increase risk of getting colon cancer.

• Smoking Cigarettes: Researchers found that smoking can increase the risk of colon cancer.

• Obesity: Having a BMI higher than 25 can increase the risk of getting colon cancer.

Symptoms of Colon Cancer

Symptoms of colon cancer can not be found in early stages; it generally takes a decade to develop from polyps to cancer. Symptoms of colon cancer are in the following:

Bowel Movement

Sudden changes in bowel movement like constant diarrhea and constipation which causes you to go to washroom frequently, pain during bowel movement because of tissue bleeding inside the colon and rectum, you will feel you have not properly excreted the waste this could cause you to rush back to the washroom and thin-rubber like stool.

Bloating

Changes in the digestive system can cause you bloating because the function of absorbing water has been stopped or low. Gastrointestinal tumors can cause you a feeling of fullness and you will see some swollen areas around your abdomen after eating a small portion of food.

Weight Loss

Severe weight loss without having a diet because cancer also harms your metabolism. Colon cancer affects the tendency to absorb nutrients from the food. Cancer takes your major energy which makes you in a food deficiency state without getting a diet.

Fatigue

You will feel tired all day long and have a slight feeling of being unwell because of blood-loss and calorie deficit you will face due to the tumor. Blood-loss makes your iron profiles low which also results in fatigue. Only if you are facing extreme fatigue, that will be the symptoms of colon cancer.

Abdominal Pain

Damage occurred by the tumor inside your colon and rectume can cause you abdominal pain, it totally depends on where the tumor is located, what is the size of the tumor and how much the tumor is bleeding.

Blood in Stool

You will notice bright red blood in your stool, and you will notice color changes in your stool like dark black stool. This shows the stool consists of blood which indicates the tumor inside the colon and the rectum is bleeding.

Types of Colon Cancer

There are 6 main types of colon cancer, you should refer it below here:

1. Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Cancer in colon and rectum caused by growth of carcinoma in epithelial cells. Symptoms for colorectal adenocarcinoma are diarrhea, constipation, blood in excrement, pain in lower stomach and weight-loss without diet. 

2. Gastrointestinal Carcinoid Tumor: This tumor develops slowly in the small intestine and lungs. Symptoms may be different according to their size and location. If it is in the small intestine or colon it will show symptoms as bloating, weight loss, fatigue and cramps inside the stomach. If it is in your rectum it shows symptoms as constipation, pain and bleeding through rectum. If it is in your stomach, there will be no symptoms.

3. Primary Colorectal Lymphomas: This cancer is common in men, develops in the lymphatic system. Symptoms of this cancer type are stomach ache, vomiting, diarrhea, indigestion, bloating and weight-loss.

4. Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor: Very rare type of cancer formed in a special cell found in the gastrointestinal tract which majorly develops in the stomach. Symptoms of this cancer are vomiting, nausea, poor appetite and abdomen pain.

5. Colon and Rectal Leimyosarcomas: This cancer harms the muscles of the colon and rectum and it is a very rare cancer. This does not have early symptoms but, as soon the cancer grows it has various symptoms like vomiting blood, tiredness, weight loss, changes in excrement and stomach pain.

6. Colon and Rectal melanomas: It is a skin cancer but can be developed inside the colon and rectum. It has symptoms like constipation, diarrhea, weight loss and stomach pain.

Risk of Colon Cancer

The risk of getting your a colon cancer is depends on several situations including:

• Age Can Cause Colon Cancer: As we grow older the chances of getting colon cancer, majorly people who are older than 50 likely to have colon cancer.

• Family History of Colon Cancer: If your parents and siblings are dealing with colon cancer in their life then that makes your chances of getting colon cancer is very high.

• Lifestyle: Your lifestyle choices can increase the chances of you getting colon cancer, if you consume alcohol heavily, if you do not do any physical activity, if you do smoking and if you are overweight or obese.

• Ethnicity: African Americans and Jewish people of eastern Europe have the highest chances of getting colon cancer according to past reports.

• Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Inflammatory bowel disease makes changes in bowel movement which increases the risk of colon cancer.

• Inherited Genetic Syndrome: Mutation of cells can be inherited which can lead to colon cancer and 10% of cases shows that colon cancer is due to inherited genetic syndrome.

Diagnose For Colon Cancer

Colon tumors take a decade to develop as cancer.If you are concerned about whether a colon tumor is developing or not you can check it by the screening process and you can do it by follow up checkups.

There are several types of screening methods which can help you find colon tumor or other factors are:

• Colonoscopy: A video camera attached to a tube is used to check the tumor in the colon and rectum.

• Stool Test: Stool goes for two DNA tests in which screening process is done by checking DNA named Cologuard and other and the second is blood test which checks for blood sample from the stool and that sample goes for further screening.

• Cell-Free DNA Test: In this screening method, they do tests for checking the present cancerous cell present in blood which are floating in blood via bloodstream.

If you have any complications or result of colon tumor or cancer present in your body then the further checkups might help you diagnose:

1. Biopsy: In biopsy, a portion of tissue will be removed from the tumor for further testing in labs to check whether the tumor is cancerous or not.

2. Tumor Marker Testing: Tumor marker is the protein released by colon cancer which can be detected by the tumor marking testing.

3. Blood analysis: A normal blood report may help you find the cancer cells in the colon and you can check the other functioning organs' health if they were harmed by any cancerous cell and many other functions.

Treatment Options For Colon Cancer

Here are the treatment options for colon cancer:

• Surgery: Surgery for colon cancer is very helpful if the size of tumor is very small and at its initial stage. It removes early tumors, heals bleeding and reduces pain.

• Polypectomy: If you have developed a polyp then the doctors remove the polyp from your colon resulting in the cancer being removed with it.

• Endoscopic Mucosal Resection: It is the same procedure as polypectomy however the early stage cancer is removed by this surgery.

• Colectomy: In this surgery, the cancer in the colon is removed including your colon because the complication of cancer is very risky at that moment.

• Ostomy: If in colectomy the surgeons are not able to remove the colon then they create a cut at your lower abdomen to remove colon from your body.

Conclusion

Colon cancer is a third major cancer disease worldwide which has no symptoms in early formation in tumors which lead to sudden symptoms which can cause you several health problems. To counter that the doctors recommend getting a screening session when you are going to be 45 years old and do follow up checkups to counter the early symptoms.