How is Colon Cancer Diagnosed?
Other People Are Reading
-
Identifying Symptoms
-
Colon cancer is an intestinal cancer that can be diagnosed through a variety of different tests. Symptoms such as weight loss, bloody stools, persistent abdominal pain, feeling as if the bowel never fully empties and a general change in bowel habits may warrant testing to determine if colon cancer is present. However, it is important to note that colon cancer may be present without any symptoms, so routine preventative care is crucial for catching the disease at an early stage.
Colonoscopy
-
Routine screenings in adults, called colonoscopies, are used to detect the polyps that lead to colorectal cancers. These adenomatous polyps are generally non-cancerous but need to be tested and then monitored over time to ensure that they have not become malignant. There are often no symptoms associated with these polyps or any lesions present, so it is important to get routine colonoscopies to monitor colon health, especially for older adults. If there is a family history of polyps or colon cancer, colonoscopies may be ordered by a doctor on an annual basis.
-
Stool Sample
-
If blood in the stool is present, you doctor will likely order a test of the bloody stools to rule out colon cancer. Stool samples can be taken at a clinic or done at home by following the proper procedures for collection and then returning the stools to a lab. Bloody stools may be intermittent or never occur with colon cancer, so a negative stool sample may not be congruent with the actual presence of the disease. There are multiple causes of bloody stools, so the presence of blood merely signifies that there is a possibility for colon cancer that should be further explored.
X-ray
-
It is also possible to identify colon cancer through an X-ray. To do this, a person must take the contrast dye called barium to illuminate the large intestine and rectum during the X-ray. The barium coats the walls of the intestine and is thus able to show where abnormalities exist. If any abnormalities are indeed found during the X-ray, a colonoscopy will be ordered to further determine the cancerous nature of any polyps or lesions.
Biopsy
-
Polyps and other tissue of the colon and rectum may be removed for biopsy if cancer is suspected but a visual diagnosis is not clear. These biopsies will determine if abnormal or cancerous cells are actually present. When colon cancer is diagnosed, a physician will then determine which of the five stages the cancer is in to aid in deciding the most prudent course of treatment.
-
