Colon Cancer Staging

About Colon Cancer Staging

Colon cancer is a type of cancer that affects the rectum or colon. Uncontrolled growth of cells happens inside the rectum or colon. The rectum is in the end of the colon or the large intestine. This type of cancer is caused by several things including age, genes and diet. Some of the symptoms of colon cancer are blood in the bowel, pain in the rectum, irregular bowel, weight loss and difficulties to complete bowel. A person who experiences these symptoms should go to the doctor for tests that will determine if he has colon cancer. If the result is positive, the cancer stage should also be determined. Colon cancer staging is a way of describing how far the cancer has gone.

Colon cancer staging will help the doctor determine the treatments that will be most appropriate for the person’s condition. Different tests will be done to know the stage of the colon cancer. Some of these are x-ray, CT scan, MRI, endorectal ultrasound and biopsy. Endorectal ultrasound is commonly done for colon cancer staging. With this test, a probe is inserted to the rectum of the patient. Images will be taken inside the rectum and these are displayed on the monitor. This process will help the doctor determine if the cancer has spread to other areas around the rectum. There are five stages of colon cancer. These are Stage 0, Stage I, Stage II, Stage III and Stage IV. Stage 0 is a condition in which the cancer is just starting. The tumor is still on the place where it started and has not yet spread to the other organs. This stage is also known as Carcinoma in Situ. Stage I means that the cancer has started to spread inside the colon, while in Stage II it already reached the tissues outside the colon. Stage III means that it has reached the lymph nodes and the last stage, which is stage IV, means that the cancer already affected the other organs of the body.

Based on the result of the colon cancer staging, surgery, radiation and chemotherapy may be done for treating patient.