Hello,
everyone. I am Dr. Li Huifeng from the Department of Internal Medicine of the Third People’s Hospital of Jiujiang City. Today, I will give you a popular science about colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer is a common malignant tumor in the gastrointestinal tract, including colon cancer and rectal cancer, which seriously affects the health and quality of life of patients. Understanding the relevant knowledge of colorectal cancer plays a vital role in prevention, early detection and treatment. Early symptoms of colorectal cancer are often not obvious or lack of specificity. As the disease progresses, there may be changes in bowel habits, such as regular bowel movements becoming frequent or diarrhea alternating with constipation. Stool characteristics may also change, and hematochezia may occur. The color of hematochezia is usually dark and often mixed with stool, which is caused by ulceration and bleeding on the surface of the tumor. In addition, the stool may become thinner, because the intestinal mass occupies a certain space and narrows the passage of the stool. Patients may also have abdominal pain or abdominal discomfort, the degree and nature of pain varies from person to person, some are dull pain, some are distending pain, pain in the middle and lower abdomen. If the tumor continues to develop, leading to intestinal obstruction, abdominal pain will be aggravated, accompanied by abdominal distension, vomiting and other symptoms. At the same time, unexplained weight loss, fatigue and other systemic symptoms may also occur in patients with colorectal cancer, because the tumor consumes the body’s energy and nutrients. The morbidity of colorectal cancer is multifactorial. Dietary factors are one of the important reasons, long-term high-fat, high-protein, low-fiber diet will increase the risk of disease. High-fat and high-protein foods will be decomposed by bacteria in the intestine to produce some carcinogens, while inadequate dietary fiber intake will prolong the retention time of feces in the intestine and increase the contact time between these carcinogens and intestinal mucosa. Chronic intestinal inflammation is also a key factor, such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, etc. Long-term inflammatory stimulation can lead to repeated damage and repair of intestinal mucosa, increasing the possibility of cell canceration. In addition, genetic factors can not be ignored in the morbidity of colorectal cancer. Familial adenomatous polyposis, hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer and other genetic syndromes of the family, the members of the risk of colorectal cancer was significantly higher than general population. At the same time, age is also an important factor. The incidence of colorectal cancer increases with age, and most patients are over 50 years old. For the diagnosis of colorectal cancer, the first is digital rectal examination, which is particularly important for the diagnosis of rectal cancer. Doctors can feel whether there is a mass in the rectum, the texture, size and activity of the mass through their fingers. Colonoscopy is one of the most effective and direct methods for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer. It can clearly observe the internal situation of the whole colon and rectum, and can also take tissues for pathological examination after finding lesions, so as to make a definite diagnosis. The fecal occult blood test can detect whether there is a trace of blood in the stool. Although it can not confirm the diagnosis of colorectal cancer, it can be used as a means of initial screening. If the results of multiple tests are positive, further tests are needed. In addition, imaging examinations such as CT and MRI can help to understand the location, size and metastasis of tumors, and provide a basis for the formulation of treatment plans. The treatment of colorectal cancer mainly includes surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and so on. Surgery is the main method to cure colorectal cancer. According to the location, size and stage of the tumor, the surgical methods are different, such as radical resection of colon cancer, radical resection of rectal cancer and so on. For early colorectal cancer, surgical resection of the tumor may achieve curative effect. Chemotherapy is mainly used to shrink the tumor before operation, improve the resection rate, or to kill the residual cancer cells after operation, and reduce the risk of recurrence. Radiotherapy is mostly used for rectal cancer, which can reduce the tumor volume before operation, reduce local recurrence, and also relieve the pain and other symptoms of advanced patients. In recent years, new therapies such as targeted therapy and immunotherapy have also shown some efficacy in the treatment of colorectal cancer, bringing more treatment options for patients. In a word, colorectal cancer is very harmful to people’s health, but by maintaining a healthy lifestyle and paying attention to early screening and diagnosis, we can effectively improve the survival rates of colorectal cancer and the survival rate of patients, we should take active action to combat this terrible disease.
