Colon Cancer Survival Rate

The colon refers to the tube that begins at the end of the small intestine and ends at the rectum. The growth of cancer cells in the colon is known as colon cancer

Symptoms of colon cancer

• Pale appearance of the skin
• Bleeding from the rectum or presence of blood in stool
• Fatigue and tiredness

Advanced stages of colon cancer may elicit the following symptoms:

• Vomiting
• Partial clogging of the rectum
• Nausea
• The lower part of the abdomen may be increasing tender
• Pain in the abdominal area
• Thin or narrow fecal material
• Sensations of incomplete elimination of stool, even after full defecation
• Bowel movement changes that may include constipation or diarrhea
• Protrusion of the abdomen and/or belly without any change in weight
• Leakage of stools from the rectum
• Inexplicable loss in weight

Causes of colon cancer

Some of the causes and risk factors of colon cancer are discussed below

• The presence of Crohn’s disease; a personal history of breast cancer or other cancer; a family history of colon cancer and the presence of certain genetic conditions such as Lynch syndrome, etc. increases the risk to developing colon cancer
• A diet that is deficient in fiber or has high processed or red meat content increases the risk
• Excessive alcoholism and smoking
• Elderly people over the age of sixty are at increased risk
• Being overweight or obesity can also increase the risk to developing colon cancer

Treatment of colon cancer

• Surgical intervention to remove the cancer tumors from the colon
• Radiation therapy that involves the use of precision, high intensity rays of radiation to destroy the cancer cells
• Intravenous administration of specific cancer cells killing drugs through the use of chemotherapy
• After the treatment for colon cancer, the patient will also need to make lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking and alcohol, intake of a better diet, exercise, etc. to prevent reoccurrence of the condition.

Colon cancer survival rate

Survival rate refers to the number of years that a patient of colon cancer can live after the diagnosis of the condition. Most doctors usually take a five-year survival rate as the basic premise to deduce the survival rate for colon cancer. This means that doctors will check and verify ‘how many of the patients have survived for at least five years after detection and treatment of colon cancer?’

The survival rate for colon cancer is however just a rough estimate. It does not mean that the average survival rate across individuals is going to be the same. Each individual case of colon cancer is unique and the survival rate of that patient is dependent on a number of factors such as the overall health of the patient, the response to colon cancer treatment, etc; besides the detection, the stage of cancer and the following treatment.

The five year survival rate of colon cancer patients as per the stage is listed below. The survival rate could be higher as some patients could have died due to other factor besides the cancer.