• According to the American Cancer Society: colorectal cancer is the second most common cancer in African American women and the third in African American men.
• Colon cancer affects 56,000 Americans annually, approximately 16,000 cases of colorectal cancer are expected to occur in African Americans in 2005.
• Approximately 7,000 African Americans will die from colon cancer in 2005
• 90% of colon cancer is preventable.
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Who's at risk?
What are the symptoms?
How can I get screened?
What's the treatment?
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What are the Symptoms?
The reason that screening in asymptomatic individuals is so important is that most persons who have colon cancer have either no symptoms or very nonspecific symptoms until the cancer has become advanced.
Right sided, ascending colon tumors often present with fatigue, weakness, and anemia of iron deficiency of unknown origin. These lesions can grow quit large without causing any obstructive symptoms because stool in the ascending colon is relatively liquid and can continue to pass through even significantly narrowed lumens. Lesions of the ascending colon often project into the lumen and ulcerate, causing chronic blood loss resulting in symptoms of palpitations, possible angina pectoris, as well as fatigue. Any adult presenting with chronic iron deficiency of unknown origin should have a through visualization of the entire bowel via colonoscopy.
Since stool in the left descending colon is more formed, symptoms of obstruction are often the first presenting symptoms. Such symptoms include changes in bowel habits (constipation and/or diarrhea ), crampy left lower quadrant pain and even perforation. Barium enema X-rays of left sided lesions often reveal characteristic annular, constricting lesions.
