Colorectal cancer is largely preventable with routine screening, including colonoscopy.
Making healthier choices in your everyday life can help reduce many of these risks.
The following risk factors increase your chance of developing colorectal cancer, but they are all things within your control to stop:
Some risk factors can’t be controlled. These include:
Patient Age: Most colorectal cancers occur after age 50
Family History of Lynch Syndrome or Familial Adenomatous Polyposis
Inherited disorders, dramatically increase your risk of developing colorectal cancer.
History of Cancer: If you’ve had colorectal cancer before, you have an increased risk for developing it again.
History of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Polyps: If you have precancerous colon polyps (abnormal growths on the inside surface of the colon and rectum), you’re more likely to develop colorectal cancer. This is especially true if they’re large or you have a lot of them.
Family History of Cancer
Oncologists can usually cure colorectal cancer if they find it early enough. But the more colorectal cancer grows, the more difficult it can be to treat. In average-risk people with no symptoms, we recommend regular screening tests for colorectal cancer starting at age 50.
Because more people are getting screened for colorectal cancer, we’re detecting the disease earlier and more often. As many as 90 percent of patients live five years or more after treatment if the cancer is found and removed at an early stage.
Your treatment team may recommend one of the following colorectal cancer screening tests.
Colonoscopy is a procedure in which a thin, flexible tube with a light and a video camera on its tip is placed in your rectum and colon to search for polyps in those areas. It’s the most effective way to detect colon and rectal polyps. Your treatment team will prescribe a clear-liquid diet and medication to clear out your bowel during the 24 hours before the procedure. You’ll also be sedated during the exam. Your doctor can usually remove any polyps that are detected, which then go to a pathologist (a doctor who specializes in diagnosing disease) for examination and analysis.
Flexible Sigmoidoscopy is similar to a colonoscopy. The main difference is that your doctor uses a shorter tube to examine the lower part of your colon and rectum.
Virtual Colonoscopy This study uses CT scan technology to create 2-D and 3-D images of your large bowel. It does not require sedation. VC has limitations, however. For example, this study requires the same preparation as conventional colonoscopy but if the study detects a polyp or other abnormality, you may need to undergo a colonoscopy.
Fecal Occult Blood Test Because colon or rectal bleeding can be a possible sign of colorectal cancer, a fecal (stool) occult blood test may detect small amounts of blood in your stool that are not otherwise visible.
Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) screens for colorectal cancer by detecting blood in the stool. you don’t have to follow a special diet before the test. FIT reacts to a part of the hemoglobin molecule (a protein found in red blood cells).
Colorectal cancers can involve a number of different genetic mutations that cause normal cells to become cancerous. These changes in the genes, called somatic mutations, are found only in cancer cells. They are not found in your normal cells and they can’t be passed down to your children.
For some advanced cancers, pathologists at HC will do molecular testing on the tumor to find somatic mutations. These mutations can show certain behaviors of the tumor and predict how it might react to certain treatments. Knowing as much as possible about the tumor’s genetic makeup can help your treatment team choose a plan of care that’s most likely to help you.
If you have metastatic diseases, our doctor will test biopsy samples for mutations in genes called EGFR, KRAS, and BRAF, which are common in colorectal cancer, as well as mutations in other less common genes.
From the Gastroenterology Unit of HC Marbella International Hospital we encourage you to have preventive checkups done if you belong to any of the above mentioned cases, and of course, to carry out all recommendations for a healthy lifestyle commented previously.
For any possible doubt, appointment request or other information at HC Marbella, we will be pleased to attend you through our web or you can also reach us under our telephone number 952 908 628.
Gastroenterology Unit
HC Marbella International Hospital
March 31, 2016
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