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Who's at risk for colon cancer, symptoms, treatment and more information.
If you were to lay your digestive tract out in a straight line it would form a to B. spanning nearly 10 meters the last 1.5 meters of that are called the colon or large intestine cells in this organ's lining constantly renew themselves but the genes that moderate this process occasionally go awry leading to the excessive growth of new cells. That results in small growths were abnormal clumps of cells called polyps the majority of these polyps won't do any harm but some can become cancerous when their cells begin to grow and divide rapidly projecting further into the colon at that point they can transform into colon cancer one of the most prevalent and preventable forms of cancer in the world.
That's a slow process though growth times vary it often takes around 10 years for a small pilot to grow and develop into a cancerous one. We don't know exactly what causes the majority of colon polyps and colon cancers we do know in general that colon cancer involves the activation of what's called oncogenes in the pilot and for the loss of tumor suppressor genes that usually keep cancer cells in check. Most cells have proto oncogenes that help them grow when a proto oncogene mutates or there are too many copies of it it can become a permanently active oncogene with cells that grow out of control. While we don't yet know exactly what underlying factors because these changes experts suspect a combination of both environmental and inherited genetic factors.
In the worst cases when cells within polyps divide and spread unchecked they eventually break through the lining of the colon lymph and blood vessels carry those cells all over the body and they can go on to form tumors despite these challenges there's a solution we've become extremely good at detecting and removing offending polyps before they can cause cancer this happens through a process called screening and when we do it regularly we can prevent many cases of colon cancer. So who's at risk most cases occur in people aged 50 years or older this group is considered at average risk for colon cancer or colon polyps there's also a higher risk group that includes people with personal or family history of colon polyps or cancer and those who suffer from inherited genetic syndromes or inflammatory diseases like Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis so the best age to initiate screening varies from person to person if you have access to health care it's best to consult a doctor to find out when you should begin.
Screening can be done with various tests colonoscopy involves a long thin flexible tube that's fitted with a video camera and light at the end and placed internally to examine the colon for pilots if polyps are found a doctor can do a Politecnico monic wall doctors can also then test the policy for cancerous cells. When asked if he is the only test that can be used to both find and remove polyps there are however other useful screening tests including imaging and at home tests that can allow patients to examine their stool for small amounts of blood.
Occasionally polyps are too large to be removed during a colonoscopy in which case the next step is surgery if blood and imaging tests then revealed that cancer cells have spread outside the colon then a special treatment like chemotherapy may also be required to stop the cancer from escalating. We can also take on certain habits to reduce our likelihood of developing colon cancer in the first place there's evidence that maintaining a healthy weight not smoking and being physically active can help but most importantly access to health care and regular screenings at crucial times in life are the best ways to prevent colon cancer. Thank you to our community on Petri on for making this video possible and if you're interested in more videos on the topic of cancer check out this playlist.
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