Large bowel forms lower 1.5 meter part of the gastrointestinal tract, going up from the right lower abdomen as ascending colon, then horizontally as transverse colon, coming down on the left side as descending colon and then as rectum ending at the anus.
Cancers of the colon are one of the most common sites of cancer in the USA, Denmark and some other European countries. In the USA nearly 45,000 people die of this cancer.
Causes
Those people who pass stool daily or even oftener because of having more roughage in the diet, have less of cancer of the large bowel. Those who form and pass less stool because their diet contains no roughage, have a higher incidence of colon cancer. This might be due either to the longer staying in of the cancer-causing diet, or the production of bacteria due to putrefaction of faecal matter which may be carcinogenic.
Symptoms
- Constipation or diarrhoea alternating with each other.
- Pain in the lower abdomen.
- Blood in the stool.
- Early fatigue.
- Loss of weight.
It occurs both in the parts exposed to _ sun, as well as those not thus exposed..
Diagnosis
Routine: Blood: Hb, RBC, TLC, DLC may be normal.
ESR may be raised.
Stool shows blood in it.
Special: Sigmoidoscopy and biopsy examination or colonoscopy and biopsy, confirm the diagnosis.
Additional:Ultrasound scan of the liver for secondaries. X-ray of the chest for secondaries. |
