Colorectal Cancer: Overview (2023)

FAQs

What are 4 common risk factors for colorectal cancer? ›

Lack of regular physical activity. A diet low in fruit and vegetables. A low-fiber and high-fat diet, or a diet high in processed meats. Overweight and obesity.

Colorectal cancer begins when healthy cells in the lining of the colon or rectum change and grow out of control, forming a mass called a tumor. A tumor can be cancerous or benign. A cancerous tumor is malignant, meaning it can grow and spread to other parts of the body.

What causes colorectal cancer? Colorectal cancer forms when the DNA in cells in the colon or rectum develop mutations that may make them unable to control growth and division. In many cases, these mutated cells die or are attacked by the immune system.

Colorectal cancer is cancer that starts in the large intestine (colon) or the rectum (end of the colon). Other types of cancer can affect the colon. These include lymphoma, carcinoid tumors, melanoma, and sarcomas.

African Americans and Jewish people of Eastern European descent (Ashkenazi Jews) have the highest incidence of colon cancer.

There are many types of colorectal cancer, the most common of which is adenocarcinoma. Other types include carcinoid tumors, gastrointestinal stromal tumors, colorectal lymphoma.

Colorectal cancer develops in the colon or in the rectum. If it starts in the colon, it may be referred to as colon cancer. If it starts in the rectum, it may be called rectal cancer. Regardless of where they start, however, these cancers share a lot in common, which is why they're together known as colorectal cancer.

Some studies suggest that people may reduce their risk of developing colorectal cancer by increasing physical activity, keeping a healthy weight, limiting alcohol consumption, and avoiding tobacco.

But they do know some factors that raise the risk of colorectal cancer in older adults, including obesity, physical inactivity, and smoking. “Some of those [risk factors] have become more common over the last 45 years, along with this rise in early-onset cases,” said Daschner, who helped plan the think tank.

How survivable is colorectal cancer? ›

If the cancer is diagnosed at a localized stage, the survival rate is 91%. If the cancer has spread to surrounding tissues or organs and/or the regional lymph nodes, the 5-year survival rate is 72%. If colon cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, the 5-year survival rate is 14%.

Colorectal cancer is a disease in which cells in the colon or rectum grow out of control. Sometimes it is called colon cancer, for short. The colon is the large intestine or large bowel. The rectum is the passageway that connects the colon to the anus.

How fast does colon cancer spread? Colorectal cancer tends to spread to the liver and lungs 2 years after initial cancer surgery. A 2018 study looked at Swedish people with colorectal cancer.

Metastatic Colorectal Cancer May Spread Early in the Disease, Study Finds. Colorectal cancer cells can break away from the original tumor and travel through the blood or lymph system to other parts of the body, including the liver, lungs, and brain.

No blood test can tell you if you have colon cancer. But your doctor may test your blood for clues about your overall health, such as kidney and liver function tests. Your doctor may also test your blood for a chemical sometimes produced by colon cancers (carcinoembryonic antigen, or CEA).

Bowel obstruction

intermittent, and occasionally severe, abdominal pain – this is always brought on by eating. unintentional weight loss – with persistent abdominal pain. constant swelling of the tummy – with abdominal pain. being sick – with constant abdominal swelling.

Some patients under 50 experience symptoms for up to a year before seeing a doctor prompting some experts to encourage earlier screening. Many younger patients with colon cancer are initially misdiagnosed, which often leads to their disease being discovered at an advanced stage.

Stress can speed up the spread of cancer throughout the body, especially in ovarian, breast and colorectal cancer. When the body becomes stressed, neurotransmitters like norepinephrine are released, which stimulate cancer cells.

Myth: Most of the time, when you are diagnosed with colon cancer, it is already spreading to other parts of your body. Fact: This is simply not true. The majority of patients diagnosed with colon cancer can be treated and will go on to live normal lives.

Most patients with bowel cancer present with one of the following symptom combinations: a persistent change in bowel habit, causing them to go to the toilet more often and pass looser stools, usually together with blood on or in their stools.

What foods cause polyps in the colon? ›

Mutations in certain genes can cause cells to continue dividing even when new cells aren't needed. In the colon and rectum, this unregulated growth can cause polyps to form. Polyps can develop anywhere in your large intestine.

In 1 to 7 years, depending on a variety of factors: The number, size and type of polyps removed; if you have a history of polyps in previous colonoscopy procedures; if you have certain genetic syndromes; or if you have a family history of colon cancer.

A colonoscopy is the most common test used to diagnose colorectal cancer. During a colonoscopy, the doctor looks inside the colon and rectum using a flexible tube with a light and lens on the end (called an endoscope).

Just like processed meats, processed grains can also increase your risk of colon cancer. Refined grains in white bread and other white flour foods can increase blood sugar levels, which lead to insulin resistance. This can raise your risk of colon cancer—as well as other cancers like kidney cancer.

Diets that include lots of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains have been linked with a decreased risk of colon or rectal cancer. Also, eat less red meat (beef, pork, or lamb) and processed meats (hot dogs and some luncheon meats), which have been linked with an increased risk of colorectal cancer.

Increasingly, however, we are seeing patients survive for a decade and even longer. As a result, more and more we are shifting our focus to “managing cancer.” But what exactly does that mean? For some patients, colorectal cancer becomes a chronic disease with ongoing treatment, similar to heart disease or diabetes.

Cancer survival rates by cancer type

The cancers with the lowest five-year survival estimates are mesothelioma (7.2%), pancreatic cancer (7.3%) and brain cancer (12.8%). The highest five-year survival estimates are seen in patients with testicular cancer (97%), melanoma of skin (92.3%) and prostate cancer (88%).

What age does colon cancer start? ›

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.

Surgery. The treatment of choice for colon cancer is surgical resection, which involves removing the cancer through surgery. Surgery is performed to remove the cancer completely and reconstruct the bowel, if possible, so your postoperative bowel function is normal or near normal.

Not counting some kinds of skin cancer, colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men and women. It is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. The Colorectal Cancer Stat Bite provides an overview of incidence, deaths, stage distribution, and five-year relative survival.

Deaths from colorectal cancer. In the United States, colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in both men and women, and it's the second most common cause of cancer deaths when numbers for men and women are combined. It's expected to cause about 52,550 deaths during 2023.

Approximately 6% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed within 3 to 5 years after the patient received a colonoscopy, according to findings from a recent population-based study.

About 20% to 25% of people are first diagnosed with colon cancer after the cancer has already spread to the liver, according to a study in Euroasian Journal of Hepato-Gastroenterology, and 40% to 50% see spread to the liver within three years of the original colon cancer diagnosis.

What Are the Symptoms? 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.

But only about 4 out of 10 colorectal cancers are found at this early stage. When cancer has spread outside the colon or rectum, survival rates are lower.

Colon cancer is typically slow-growing, starting as a benign polyp that eventually becomes malignant. This process may occur over many years without producing any symptoms. Once colon cancer has developed, it may still be years before it is detected.

The average time for colon cancer to metastasize from the liver to bone was 8.3 months (± 13.4, CI 0.6–15.9), whereas the time to metastasize from lung to bone was 3.3 months (± 4.2, CI 0.7–5.9).

What are the 5 major risk factors for cancer? ›

Leading risk factors for preventable cancers are smoking, getting too much ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun or tanning beds, being overweight or having obesity, and drinking too much alcohol.

Tobacco use, infectious agents, unhealthy diet, excess body weight, physical inactivity, and alcohol consumption account for the majority of cancer deaths caused by known risk factors.

The most common risk factors for cancer include aging, tobacco, sun exposure, radiation exposure, chemicals, and other substances, some viruses and bacteria, certain hormones, family history of cancer, alcohol, poor diet, lack of physical activity, or being overweight.

Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable types of cancer. Once a leading cause of cancer death in the US, cervical cancer rates have plummeted. Regular screenings with Pap tests and human papillomavirus (HPV) tests can help prevent the disease or catch it early when it's most treatable.

While plenty of research has shown that stress can cause cancer to grow and spread in mice, studies haven't shown a clear link between stress and cancer outcomes in people. But it's difficult to study stress in people for several reasons, including challenges with defining and measuring stress.

Genetics. Genes are the ultimate cause of all cancers, but in the vast majority of cases, these are acquired mutations that are not passed on to your children. You have "healthy" genes, but a mutation happens to one cell and then is able to grow out of control.

The most common type of cancer on the list is breast cancer, with 290,560 new cases expected in the United States in 2022. The next most common cancers are prostate cancer and lung cancer. Because colon and rectal cancers are often referred to as "colorectal cancers," these two cancer types are combined for the list.

Why Does Alcohol Use Raise Cancer Risk? When you drink alcohol, your body breaks it down into a chemical called acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde damages your DNA and prevents your body from repairing the damage. DNA is the cell's “instruction manual” that controls a cell's normal growth and function.

Conclusions: Blood group A is associated with increased risk of cancer, and blood group O is associated with decreased risk of cancer.

What are 10 ways to prevent cancer? ›

Most blood tests aren't used on their own to diagnose cancer. But they can provide clues that may lead your health care team to make the diagnosis. For most types of cancer, a procedure to remove a sample of cells for testing is often needed to be sure.

Cancer pain can be described as dull aching, pressure, burning, or tingling. The type of pain often gives clues about the sources of the pain. For example, pain caused by damage to nerves is usually described as burning or tingling, whereas pain affecting internal organs is often described as a sensation of pressure.