Colon cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the colon. It includes Stage 0, Stage I, Stage II, Stage III, and Stage IV. With each stage, the severity of this disease increases. This article mentions a detailed guide comprising of the causes, symptoms, risk factors, and treatments for colon cancer.

1. Causes
A person suffers from colon cancer when healthy cells in the colon undergo mutations in their deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). A cell’s DNA has specific instructions that direct a cell as to what to do. Cells that are healthy divide and grow in an orderly manner to ensure that the human body functions normally. However, when a cell’s DNA is hampered and turns cancerous, the cells continue to divide even when new cells are not required. The cells form a tumor as they accumulate. As time passes, the cancer cells increase to attack and hamper functioning of the adjacent normal tissue. Due to this, cancerous cells can travel to other body parts to form deposits, which are known as metastasis.

2. Symptoms
The symptoms of this disease include:

• Sudden weight loss
• Fatigue or weakness
• Blood or rectal bleeding in the stool
• Abdominal discomfort such as pain, gas, or cramps that is permanent
• A sensation that the bowel is not completely empty
• A permanent change in the bowel, which includes constipation or diarrhea

3. Risk factors

• Alcohol and smoking
• Older age
• Diabetes and obesity
• Personal and family history
• Sedentary lifestyle
• High-fat and low-fiber diet

4. Treatments for colon cancer

• Chemotherapy

In this type of treatment, cancer cells are killed through the use of drugs. In the case of colon cancer, chemotherapy is usually administered after the surgery if the cancer is bigger or has reached the lymph nodes. In this manner, chemotherapy may help decrease the cancer cells that are present in the patient’s body, and thereby, reduce the risk related to recurrence. It might also be done prior to an operation to shrink a big cancer tumor so that it is simpler to remove it with surgery. Moreover, it can be used to relieve the symptoms of this disease, which cannot be eliminated with surgery, or those that have reached other body parts.

• Radiation therapy

This therapy utilizes powerful sources of energy such as protons and X-rays to destroy cancer cells. Radiation therapy can be used to shrink a big cancer tumor prior to an operation so that it can be eliminated easily. It can be used to relieve symptoms such as pain when surgery is not a viable option. Sometimes, this therapy is done in combination with chemotherapy.

• Targeted drug therapy

This therapy specializes in killing particular abnormalities that are evident inside the cancer cells. Targeted drugs treatments can help ensure that the cancer cells die by blocking these abnormalities and preventing them from multiplying. This therapy is usually recommended for people who are in an advanced stage, and it is done in combination with chemotherapy.