The Treatment Of Colon Cancer
The number one method used for the treatment of colon cancer is surgery. The doctor will remove the tumor during the operation, as well as any tissue located in the margins of the tumor. Depending on where the tumor is located, the closest draining lymph nodes will also be removed and examined for spread of the cancer. If the person has been diagnosed with colorectal cancer and it has spread to the rectum, then the entire rectum is removed. This is because this area has the potential to spread the cancer to nearby organs.
The treatment situation and long term outcome of having colon cancer is different for everyone. The risk of dying will depend on if the disease has spread to other organs. If the cancer has only entered the intestinal wall, then such people might have a better outcome than someone in which the cancer has spread through the colonic wall, and entered other organs. This represents a difference of a survival rate of eighty percent in the first set of people, compared to only ten percent survival in someone in which the cancer has spread.
Other than surgery a doctor can use chemotherapy drugs to treat colon cancer. These drugs are usually used on the entire system. They are especially used in cases where the cancer has spread to other organs. The chemotherapy drugs will seek out the cancer cells and destroy it. This treatment is particularly useful when used soon after surgery to remove the tumor. Chemotherapy can take place within the hospital or a doctor’s office. However, the side effects of drugs will vary. The most notorious side effects are a drop in blood cells count and loss of hair. New drug research and alternative health therapies might reduce these effects from happening.
A third treatment option is radiation therapy. This is stronger than chemotherapy, and is only used when the person has been diagnosed with cancer in their rectum. Radiation is quite strong and can leave the person feeling drained and suffering from hair loss. However, it reduces the risk of cancer reoccurring by fifty percent.
Tags: colon, Colon Cancer