Colon cancer There is a trend of continuing to increase. It is 3rd most common in men and 2nd in women, with 44 new patients per day or 15,939 people/year and 15 deaths per day or 5,476 people/year. In fact, colon cancer can be prevented too. cancer screening Because if we detect it at an early stage, the treatment will be effective. and have a high chance of recovering from the disease Especially people aged 50 years and over should be screened for cancer every year.

Source: Public Health Statistics 2019 Strategy and Planning Division Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Health

What is colon cancer?

Colon cancer is when a lump forms in the large intestine. And because the large intestine is tubular When a lump forms, it causes the colon to narrow. Stool passing through the large intestine will have more difficulty passing through. So it accumulates inside. Resulting in bloating, distension, and more discomfort. When the outlet becomes narrower, the stool that passes out of the lump becomes smaller. and because the cancerous tumor will be macerated Easier to scratch than normal tissue. Therefore, there is blood in the stool. This allows the patient to observe and see abnormalities that occur.

Causes of colorectal cancer

The true cause of colon cancer is still unknown. Most of the time, 80-90% has no known cause. There is a small percentage, less than 10%, that is a genetic abnormality, such as having someone in the family, especially a father, mother, sibling, or child, who has colon cancer. This makes these people more at risk than normal people. or some patients with chronic colitis This group of people will be at greater risk than normal people. A small portion of the intestinal tract has many polyps in the hundreds or even thousands. This group is at higher risk than normal people. For normal people, the cause is still unknown.

“Over 90% of people with colon cancer The exact cause is not yet known.”

Groups at risk for developing colon cancer

At present, the exact cause of birth is still unknown. But there are some factors involved in the development of colon cancer as follows:

• age Elderly people are more likely than younger people to develop this disease, and 90 percent of colon cancer patients are over 50 years old.
• Family history of cancer If a person in the family First-degree relatives, including parents and siblings, have a history of colon cancer. Especially when the disease occurs in people under 60 years of age, they have a higher chance of getting colon cancer than the general population.
• People who have had chronic inflammatory bowel disease inflammatory bowel disease or polyps in the large intestine
• certain genetic diseases For example, hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer (HNPCC or Lynch syndrome) and familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) increase the risk of developing colon cancer.
• People who have had a history of ovarian, uterine, or breast cancer. Will have a higher chance of getting colon cancer than normal people.
• Other risk factors For example, eating foods high in fat stimulates the secretion of more bile acids. This causes irritation of the lining of the intestinal wall. and causing more division of the intestinal wall lining. In addition, grilled and smoked foods will contain carcinogenic substances. Eating little vegetables and fruits, smoking and drinking a lot of alcohol

Like other cancers, there are four stages of colorectal cancer.

• Colon cancer has not spread. That is, the cancer is still only in the intestinal wall. It hasn't spread anywhere yet.
• It begins to spread into the deeper muscles. That is, the cancer is still in the intestinal wall. But it spreads to the deeper muscles.
• It has started to spread to the lymph nodes. That is, the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes.

• It began to spread to various organs. is beginning to spread to other organs such as the liver and lungs

Most patients come in with constipation. Or some people have diarrhea. Or some people have abnormal bowel movements.

Irregular bowel movement is that some people have alternating constipation and diarrhea, or some people have diarrhea and cannot pass the bowels. Taking laxatives doesn't get better. Sometimes the stool is thin and stringy, not being able to pass all the way, and pain when straining is another symptom. Or some patients come in with blood in their diarrhea. Or mucus and blood in the stool. A small percentage of cases may come with anemia. or a lump can be felt in the abdomen

Most of the time, we tend to wait for symptoms to come to the doctor. But to have symptoms, it must be large enough to show that the cancer is large enough. Or if there is a sufficiently deep wound, in fact, in Wellness, we recommend checking without symptoms, or what is called cancer screening. This is recommended for patients aged 50 years and over because if we wait to have symptoms, the duration of the disease usually increases.

Symptoms of colon cancer

1. Constipation or diarrhea
2. Blood in the stool
3. Passing stool with blood in the mucus
4. Pain when pushing, unable to take pictures all the way
5. The stool is small.
6. Pale or palpable lump in the abdomen

How to treat colon cancer

There are four main methods of treatment for colon cancer: surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and alternative cancer treatments.

Surgery The main treatment for colon cancer is surgery, which removes the diseased portion of the colon and lymph nodes. Sometimes if the cancer is very aggressive or cancer of the distal colon next to the anus Surgery may be necessary to make an artificial fistula to remove the remaining end of the intestine and open it through the abdomen to allow stool to exit.

Radiotherapy It is a combined treatment with surgery. Radiation may be given before or after surgery. This depends on the medical indications on a case-by-case basis. The doctor will evaluate the nature of the tumor's spread and the chance of it spreading to lymph nodes.

In general, radiation therapy usually takes approximately 5-6 weeks, with 1 time per day, 5 consecutive days per week, or holidays on official days and Saturdays and Sundays, etc.

Chemotherapy is the administration of chemical drugs This may be given before surgery and/or after surgery with or without radiotherapy. The use of chemotherapy depends on medical indications and does not have to be given to every patient. The doctor will consider it on a case-by-case basis.

Screening and alternative treatments W9 Wellness includes: Screening for 51 types of tumors and cancers (W9 Advanced Cancer Screening Test), risk analysis program for 13 serious diseases and 21 common hereditary diseases (W9 Care Series), treatment with mistletoe extract (Mistletoe Therapy) and building the immune system to fight viruses 1:1 without waiting for anyone to give orders (NK Cell Therapy)

“Colon cancer can be cured in its early stages. If you notice yourself having symptoms Colon cancer should immediately consult a doctor.”

Colon cancer is one of the most common cancers among Thai people. Currently, colon cancer screening is done regularly. And detecting intestinal abnormalities at an early stage has been found to be able to clearly reduce the death rate from colon cancer. Therefore, people who are over 50 years old and people who have parents, siblings, and children sick with colon cancer Therefore, they should be screened regularly.