Symptoms of Colon Cancer

Colon cancer is a relatively common gastrointestinal tumor in life. This tumor ranks very high among gastrointestinal tumors. The main patient population is middle-aged and elderly people, and most of them are men. Some people don't know what symptoms they will have after suffering from this disease, which leads to delays in treatment. So recognizing the symptoms of colon cancer is something we should all do.

If patients know about the symptoms of some diseases, they can detect the onset of the disease faster and more accurately, so they can receive treatment earlier, which is very helpful for treating the disease. What I want to talk to you about today is the symptoms of colon cancer.

symptom:

Colon cancer is more common in middle-aged and elderly people, with the vast majority aged 30 to 69, and more common in men than in women. Early symptoms are mostly not obvious. Common symptoms for patients in the middle and late stages include abdominal pain and gastrointestinal irritation, abdominal lumps, changes in bowel habits and stool properties, anemia and symptoms caused by chronic toxin absorption, intestinal obstruction, intestinal perforation, etc.

Changes in bowel habits or stool characteristics are mostly manifested as increased frequency of bowel movements, unformed or loose stools, and blood and mucus in the stool. Sometimes constipation or diarrhea alternates with constipation, and the stool becomes thinner. Pain in the middle and lower abdomen, which varies in severity and is mostly dull pain or bloating. People with right-sided colon cancer often find a mass in the abdomen. Pay attention to systemic symptoms such as blood greed, weight loss, fatigue, edema, hypoproteinemia, etc. When there is tumor necrosis or secondary infection, the patient often has fever.

1. Abdominal pain and digestive irritation symptoms: Most patients have varying degrees of abdominal pain and discomfort, such as dull abdominal pain, right-sided abdominal fullness, nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite. Symptoms often worsen after eating, sometimes accompanied by intermittent diarrhea or constipation, and are easily confused with chronic appendicitis, ileocecal tuberculosis, ileocecal segmental enteritis, or lymphoma, which are common in the right lower abdomen. Hepatic flexure cancer of the colon may present as paroxysmal colic pain in the right upper abdomen, similar to chronic cholecystitis. It is generally believed that the pain of right-sided colon cancer is often reflected to the upper part of the navel, while the pain of left-sided colon cancer is often reflected to the lower part of the navel. If a cancer penetrates the intestinal wall and causes local inflammatory adhesions, or forms a local abscess after chronic perforation, the area of ​​pain is where the cancer is located.

2. Abdominal masses: generally irregular in shape, hard in texture, and nodular in surface. In the early stages of transverse colon and sigmoid colon cancer, there is a certain degree of mobility and mild tenderness. If ascending or descending colon cancer has penetrated the intestinal wall and adhered to the surrounding organs, chronically perforated to form an abscess, or pierced the adjacent organs to form an internal fistula, the tumor will often be fixed, with unclear edges and obvious tenderness.

3. Changes in bowel habits and stool characteristics: This is the result of ulceration and secondary infection caused by cancer necrosis. Because toxins stimulate the colon, bowel habits change, the number of bowel movements increases or decreases, and sometimes diarrhea and constipation alternate. There may be abdominal cramps before bowel movements, which will be relieved after bowel movements. If the tumor is located lower or in the rectum, there may be symptoms of rectal irritation such as anal pain, difficulty in defecation, or tenesmus. The stool is often unformed, mixed with mucus, pus and blood, and sometimes contains a large amount of blood, which is often misdiagnosed as dysentery, enteritis, hemorrhoidal bleeding, etc.

4. Symptoms of anemia and chronic toxin absorption: The surface of the tumor necrose and formed ulcers, and there may be continuous small amounts of bleeding. The blood mixed with feces is not easy to attract the patient's attention. However, anemia, emaciation, weakness and weight loss may occur due to chronic blood loss, toxin absorption and malnutrition. Patients in the late stage have edema, hepatomegaly, ascites, hypoproteinemia, cachexia and other symptoms. If the cancer penetrates the stomach or bladder and forms an internal fistula, corresponding symptoms may also appear.

5. Intestinal obstruction and intestinal perforation: caused by mass filling in the intestinal cavity, strangulation of the intestinal tube itself, or adhesion and compression outside the intestinal cavity. It often presents as a slowly progressive incomplete intestinal obstruction. Patients in the early stages of obstruction may have chronic abdominal pain accompanied by bloating and constipation, but they can still eat, and the symptoms become more severe after eating. Symptoms can usually be relieved after treatment with laxatives, enema, Chinese medicine, etc. After a long period of repeated attacks, the obstruction gradually becomes complete. Some patients present with acute intestinal obstruction. About half of acute colon obstruction in the elderly is caused by colon cancer. When complete colon obstruction occurs, closed loop intestinal obstruction is formed because the ileocecal valve blocks the backflow of colon contents into the ileum. The colon from the cecum to the obstruction site can be extremely dilated, and the intra-intestinal pressure continues to increase, rapidly developing into strangulated intestinal obstruction or even intestinal necrosis and perforation, causing secondary peritonitis. Some patients have atypical previous symptoms, making it difficult to make a clear diagnosis before surgery. Cancers located in the cecum, transverse colon, and sigmoid colon can cause intussusception when intestinal peristalsis is vigorous.

The above is just an introduction to the symptoms of colon cancer. I believe that after reading it, you will have a deeper understanding of this disease. After understanding the disease, it can be regarded as a kind of protection for yourself. If you feel unwell in your life, you should go to a regular hospital for examination and treatment in time.