Colon cancer - Introduction

The second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States is colon cancer, trailing behind only lung cancer. It is estimated that there will be 147,500 new cases and 57,100 people will die in the United States in 2003. Six (6) percent of Americans are expected to develop colon cancer within their lifetime.

A malignancy in the colon or rectum can be referred to as colorectal cancer. Strictly speaking, a malignancy in the colon is colon cancer and a malignancy in the rectum is rectal cancer. Most colon cancers occur on the left side in the sigmoid region.

The colon is a muscular tube approximately 6 feet long connecting the small intestine to the rectum. The right side of your body has the “ascending colon” which receives waste from the small intestine. This ascends upward to the “transverse colon” which crosses over the small intestines and descends on the left side of the body as the “descending colon”. At the bottom the colon again crosses the belly toward the rectum as the “sigmoid colon”. Finally, the sigmoid colon empties into the 8-inch rectum.

When the cells that line the colon or rectum start to proliferate in an uncontrolled manner it is called a tumor. It is common to find a benign type of growth called polyps. These are small and produce few, if any, symptoms. However, over time these polyps can grow and develop into cancer.