Treatments of Colon Cancer or Colorectal Cancer
For colon cancer the treatment depend on how far the disease has progressed in the area of the colon. If colon cancer detected in time, i.e. Before the daughter metastases has formed in the body, cancer is often curable with surgery. The exact treatment of colorectal cancer depends on which intestinal portion is affected. The treatment of colon cancer differs significantly from the treatment of rectal cancer (rectum). In this passage the treatment of colorectal cancer is explained.
The main treatment method is surgery. It is used in rectal cancer as well as in cancer of other areas of the large intestine (colon).
HoweChemotherapyver, other methods are also used such as:
Physical treatments such as
- Cryotherapy
- Laser therapy
- Immunotherapy
- Surgery
The operation depend on size, weight and position of tumor. The surgeon then attempts to possible fully remove the tumor tissue. At the same time, the doctor can thoroughly examine the abdominal cavity and possibly try to identified the secondary tumors.
The extent of the cancer operation depends on the blood supply to the affected section and after the outflow of tissue fluid (lymph). If cancer is present in the ascending portion of the colon than it is necessary to remove half of the colon. If cancer is in the transverse colon than larger parts of the intestine are removed, since diverse cross connections between the blood vessels of all colon are widely dispersed and secondary tumors may occurred in the lymph nodes.
However, an operation can also be useful to remove secondary tumors in the lung , liver and abdomen. A surgical procedure is also necessary when a tumor, for example, narrows the intestinal transit.
Surgery for Colon Cancer
When cancer is present in higher portions of the colon, it is necessary to remove defective part of the colon and sew the ends together. How extensive is the operation depends on several factors, including the size and location of the tumor.
If the tumor tissue can be completely removed and the cancer has not spread, you can cure colon cancer using surgery.
For smaller tumors at an early stage, the surgeon removes the relevant section of the intestine and some lymph nodes. Larger tumors make it necessary to cut out correspondingly larger portion of intestine and adjacent structures. It may happen that also really healthy intestinal areas must be removed.
If there are multiple tumors in different areas of the intestine, the surgeon will usually try to surgically remove each tumor individually, rather than completely removed the colon.after an operation may a temporarily colostomy is necessary to regenerate the operated portion easily.
Colorectal cancer surgery is followed by chemotherapy which can even kill existing cancer cells and prevent spread of metastases eventually.
Surgery for Rectal Cancer
Surgery is also a standard treatment for rectal cancer. Here, the surgeon removes the affected part of the intestine. A temporarily, in order to heal the operation wound colostomy is created.
In particular in tumors that are close to the anus, in an operation the function of the sphincter is lost. To minimize this risk, the tumor is reduced by using a chemotherapy or radiation therapy before surgery. However, sometimes it is not possible to preserve the sphincter in this case a permanent colostomy is necessary to lay.
Deficiency symptoms can occur depending on which area of the intestine is missing after surgery, but it is not necessary in every case. Often they have diarrhea because the chair cannot be sufficiently concentrated. In this case, it is particularly important that the person drinking sufficiently.
Chemotherapy for Colon Cancer
In chemotherapy, the patient receives cytostatics drugs that simply kill mostly cancer cells. But cytostatics also attack healthy tissue. This can lead to the typical chemotherapy side effects such as diarrhea , blood disorders or hair loss.
In colon cancer or rectal cancer, chemotherapy for various purposes are used:
Adjuvant (= supportive) therapy: after surgery cytostatics can possible kill residual cancer cells. In many cases the risk of relapse is significantly reduced by using chemotherapy.
Neoadjuvant therapy: the aim of neoadjuvant therapy is to gain a better position of tumor and to shrink large tumors so that surgery is possible.
Palliative therapy: chemotherapy can slow the course of disease when no healing prospects exist: if the cancer already spread, drugs can slow the progression of the disease and relieve symptoms.
Most of the doctor administered the cytostatics on the vein . Possible active ingredients include about fluorouracil (5-fu), capecitabine , leucovorin and oxaliplatin and irinotecan . Capecitabine is also available in tablet form. Capecitabine converts to the drug 5-fu after taking. Compared to an infusion, the tablets are acceptable as gift.
The incidence and severity of side effects have decreased with the use of new drugs and modern treatment protocols. Moreover good medication help to reduce the side effects. After chemotherapy, the side effects usually disappear again quickly.
Radiotherapy For Colon Cancer
In radiotherapy affected body areas are targeted to radiations to destroy cancer cells.
Radiation therapy may be suitable especially before or after surgery among people with rectal cancer. It may also used in combination with chemotherapy. Before surgery, radiation therapy can potentially shrink a tumor so that the cancer can be better operated. After surgery, irradiation may useful to prevent relapse of a tumor in the same place particularly in rectal cancer.
New therapeutic approaches
In addition to classical cytostatics, new drugs have also proven useful against many cancers inrecent years. They are similar to the antibodies of the human immune system and are targeted specifically at certain characteristics of tumor cells. The therapy with these drugs is therefore called targeted therapy.
The new drugs may be a useful complement to the existing treatment methods and are suitable for persons in whom the cancer has already spread.
For example, so-called angiogenesis inhibitors, may be useful for cancer. You can prevent the formation of new blood vessels and so we prevent the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the tumor. But this form of drug therapy is not without side effects and does not qualify eligible for any colorectal cancer patients.
Nutrition in Cancer
Many people with colorectal cancer (rectum or colon) lose a lot of weight since the treatment affects a large part of the digestive tract directly. Therefore, at least temporarily frequently special diet is necessary in colorectal cancer. After a successful operation, the weight normalized by the time normally again.
If secondary tumors is formed in other regions of the body, a longer-term nutritional support is often necessary. Doctors and nutrition experts work for the patients individually tailored out diet plans. It is important to minimize the burden on the digestive organs with special diet, but at same time diet must be high in calories to compensate for the weight loss.
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