The colon is the first installment of the large intestine and the place where waste is deposited before being expelled through the anus. It is divided into four segments-ascending, transverse, descending and sigmoid, and consists of several layers of fabric, which the mucosa is the innermost. Precisely, it is here that most often develop polyps that lead to colon cancer.
When there is metastasis or when the tumor affects only the lining of the colon, between 95% and 99% chance to remove it with surgery. “By contrast, when the tumor is so large that it penetrates through the mucosa of the colon or invades the external fabric (Level 2 and 3), depending on the tumor penetration and degree of involvement of the lymph nodes, survival may be between five and ten years in 70% of cases, while very advanced when detected with involved nodes, the survival rate is between 30 % and 50%, “he adds.
It is therefore important that early diagnosis and, above all, prevention. A practice that can be achieved through the work of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC), which has been identified as risk factors for the disease:
1. The food, which must contain a low content of animal fat and more fiber.
2. Physical inactivity, as a sedentary lifestyle promotes the occurrence of any disease.
3. Consumption of snuff and alcohol, which helps the appearance of polyps and promotes the growth of malignant cells in the lining of the colon.
4. Age, as are the elderly, after 60 years, who are more likely to get sick.
5. Personal history of polyps and colorectal cancer, because the occurrence of polyps or a tumor increases the chances of cancer or a second tumor, respectively.
6. Inflammatory bowel diseases, which represent less than 1% of all colorectal cancers, but also influence.
Genetic factors in turn play an important role, since 5% of cases of colon cancer have identified several genes that, when altered, lead to a situation of predisposition to the disease. Also, the transmission from parents to children of a gene called APC, which can also be altered, is another 1% of the tumors detected, while between 3% and 5% of the remaining cases are transmitted as an autosomal, this is,”by mutation or alteration of genes, so that in most patients are not detected polyps.” Therefore, a high-risk patients who are ill they face the possibility of tracking their children to the risk that they also may present disease,” said Antonio Anton, who recalls the importance of sport, eating a diet rich in fiber and stop drinking and smoking to prevent a disease that is the second leading cause of cancer death, the first lung cancer in men and breast cancer in women.
