Expert Advice on Beating Colon Cancer

Colon cancer affects the digestive system's large intestine. According to the American Cancer Society, 145,000 new cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed each year. More than 49,000 people died from colorectal cancers between 2003 and 2008. The best way to beat colon cancer is to catch it early with diagnostic tests. You also can rely on diagnostic tests to catch precancerous colon growths known as polyps before they develop into cancer.

Stool Tests

• One of the most common early colon cancer symptoms is blood in the stool. Often this blood is invisible to the eye. Tests such as the fecal occult blood test will pick up most hidden blood in the stool. If blood shows up on the test, you do not necessarily have cancer, and you will need additional tests for a positive diagnosis. Since blood precedes many more severe symptoms typical of later-stage colon cancer, such as stomach pain, the test will help your doctor catch any potential cancer in the early stages and greatly increase your chances of beating the cancer. People older than 50 and those with colon cancer in their families should take a fecal occult blood test each year.

Colonoscopies

• Since stool blood tests don't tell you why you have blood in your stool, doctors rely on other more conclusive tests to detect colon cancer in the early or precancerous stages. The gold standard colon test is the colonoscopy. During a colonoscopy, a doctor will examine your colon with a camera-equipped device while you are under twilight anesthesia. A colonoscopy may detect cancer long before you notice any actual symptoms. Thus, it is the most important tool to ensure that you don't have cancer or to catch the cancer early before it has spread. The ACS recommends that people over the age of 50 receive a colonoscopy every 10 years. If your colonoscopy reveals the presence of a polyp, you may need another colonoscopy in three to five years.

Proper Treatment

• If your doctor gives you a positive diagnosis for colon cancer, she will also attempt to stage the cancer based on whether there is evidence it has metastasized. To beat colon cancer, consider whatever options are most likely to net results. Although surgery is often required as an initial step, chemotherapy is often used to ensure full recovery.

  During chemotherapy, your doctor will administer drugs two or three times a week for several weeks. Then you will rest for a few weeks before another chemotherapy cycle begins. The entire chemotherapy process may take more than a year. Since chemotherapy continues for so long and it produces many unpleasant side effects, such as intense nausea, you may be tempted to stop treatment. However, if you are serious about beating the cancer, you must stay with chemotherapy or any other treatments your doctor recommends. On the other hand, if a treatment has a much higher risk of complication than potential benefit, look for alternative treatments.