Women With Colon Cancer

Colon cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the United States. It affects just as many women as men. Unfortunately, symptoms don't often appear until late stages of the disease. Women need to know more about colon cancer, its diagnosis and prevention. If the cancer is caught early, there is a high cure rate.

Explanation

• Colorectal cancer refers to cancer of the colon or rectum. Colon cancer is the more common form, especially in those over 50.

Symptoms

• Rectal bleeding and changes in bowel habits can be a sign of colon cancer. These symptoms can also be explained by other illness and don't often appear until later in the disease, so symptoms alone are not a good diagnostic tool for colon cancer.

Risks

• A family history of colorectal cancer, a high-fat diet, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease will all put women at higher risk for colon cancer. The risk increases with age.

Diagnostic Tests

• During a sigmoidoscopy, a doctor can look in the rectum for polyps or any type of abnormal growth. If something is found, a biopsy needs to be scheduled. A colonoscopy is a more commonly used procedure because it allows the doctor to look for problems and do biopsies of anything found at the same time.

Prevention

• Regular colonoscopies--as determined by a gastroenterologist based on age and risk--can find polyps when they are small and pre-cancerous or non-cancerous. It is believed that a low-fat, high-fiber diet also reduces risk.

Treatment

• Surgery is almost always performed in patients to remove the diseased area. Radiation and chemotherapy are added in some cases. Treatment is the same for women and men.