Colorectal cancer does not occur overnight. First, polyps appear in the lower six inches of the colon ( the rectum ). These polyps are precancerous growths that appear as bumps or abscesses. Sometimes they’re benign, but other times they mutate into cancer, which begins working its way thru the rectal wall, into surrounding lymph nodes and into other organ tissue, wreaking all sorts of havoc. While living a healthy lifestyle helps prevent cancer in general, the sole way to effectively combat colon cancer is to get screened constantly after fifty years of age.
The actual cause of cancer of the rectum has not been pinpointed, [click to continue…]
People with a genetic susceptibility to colon cancer could cut their chances of developing the disease in half by taking a daily dose of aspirin, researchers said on Monday.
The finding might lead to other treatments by helping researchers understand how aspirin combats colon cancer, one of the top three cancers in rich countries.
Though aspirin has been used widely for years to treat minor aches and to alleviate fevers, it can irritate the stomach and intestines and cause major bleeding.
European researchers followed more than 1,000 people with Lynch syndrome, a genetic mutation that makes them vulnerable to cancers in the colon, rectum, stomach, brain, liver, womb and elsewhere. The syndrome accounts for about 5 per cent of all colon cancers. [click to continue…]