| Colon
cancer - Treatment
If
colon cancer is detected it must be staged before any treatment
plan can be recommended or started.
Stage 0 (Carcinoma in
Situ)
Here the cancer is
confined to the innermost lining of the colon only.
Stage I
Now the cancer has
spread beyond this inner lining to the second and third layers
of the inner wall. It has not spread to the outer wall of the
colon or outside of the colon.
Stage II
The cancer has spread
outside of the colon, but not yet spread to the lymph nodes. Lymph
nodes are the bodies filters which help fight infections.
Stage III
Here the cancer has
spread to nearby lymph nodes. While the cancer has left the colon
and is spreading, it has not yet spread to any other parts of
the body.
Stage IV
At this stage the
cancer has spread to other parts of the body such as the liver
or the lungs.
Surgery
When the cancer is localized to the bowel it is highly treatable
and often curable. However, no matter what stage of cancer you may
have, surgery is the treatment of choice. A small, localized cancer
may be removed with the fiberoptic scope. If the cancer is larger
it will be resected and the two ends of the colon sewed together,
an anastomosis.
When the lesion is
too large or if the colon needs time to heal, a colostomy might
be formed. Here the colon is attached to a stoma (an opening) on
the outside of the body for waste to pass through.
Chemotherapy
Using drugs to destroy cancer cells can help when the cancer has
spread past the colon itself. Almost all patients with Stage II,
III and IV cancer should receive chemotherapy. Normally, this is
started about one month after surgery and continues for around 6
months.
Radiation therapy
Radiation can either be used before surgery, to shrink the cancer,
or after surgery to kill any cells missed by surgery. Often radiation
is combined with chemotherapy. Usually radiation is used in rectal
cancer, not colon cancer, to prevent it from returning to the same
site.
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