preview

Colon Cancer Research Paper

Decent Essays

Cancer is something that not only affects the person diagnosed with it, but also the people who know them. When my grandmother got colon cancer in 2008, the family was distraught with the news and didn’t know how to react. After she had died from cancer in 2009, I wasn’t aware of exactly what kind of cancer she had and how the severity was. I didn’t even know what each of the stages meant. After I found out what kind of cancer she had, I still wasn’t sure how it was caused, what kind of effects it had, what kind of treatments she had, and if there was any way it could’ve been prevented. Although there isn’t a precise reason as to what causes colon cancer, there are several risk factors. Two of those risk factors are genetic mutations which are familial adenomatous polyposis and hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer. Familial adenomatous polyposis is an uncommon disorder which makes thousands of polyps develop along the lining of your colon …show more content…

For stage zero colon cancer patients, the cancer cells haven’t spread past the inner lining of the colon so surgery is the only thing needed. The surgery is usually done by polypectomy if the tumor is small enough; if not, a colon resection, or colectomy is needed. By stage one of colon cancer, the cells have spread throughout many layers of the colon, but not through the colon’s walls so surgery would only be needed to take out the part of the colon that has cancer or any lymph nodes. Stage two and three treatments include more colectomy and chemotherapy and possibly radiation treatments depending on how many cancer cells were removed. For stage four of colon cancer, there is a small chance that surgery could remove the cancer cells since it could spread to the liver, lungs, the lining of the abdominal cavity, or other lymph nodes. If the cancer is too widespread, then colectomy or diverting colostomy might be

Get Access