Medical Informative Booklets
Screening
Colorectal cancer screening
Clinical screening and cancer prevention
Gastroenterology Dept
In Belgium, we take a census of 7000 new cases of colorectal cancer.
Mortality is high : 50% of patients are going to pass away because of that disease.
The colorectal cancer is the second one which causes the most dead people (among women, the first one is breast cancer and among men the first one is lung cancer)
Colon tumors are, usually, the result of the degeneracy of benign polyps which are going to become a cancer within the 5 or 10 years.
The colorectal cancer’s development is slow, that is the reason why that cancer can get better if it has been diagnosed in time.
Risk factors of colorectal cancer
• family medical history
close relative who devloped polyps or colon cancer
• personal medical history
- polyps of colon
- inflammatory colon disease (Crohn, RCUH)
The screening
- The search for blood in the stools : the Hemoccult test
Simple test which can be done at home : you have to take from your stools and send it to the laboratory.
- The colonoscopy :
The test is carried out with the help of flexible tube with a video camera which is placed in the anal opening.
It enables to explore intestine’s inner walls and, if it needs to be done, take from the intestine (biopsy) and do resection of polyps.
Warning Signs
- Unexplained modification of stools rate (constipation, diarrhoea).
- Bloody discharge by anal tract or in the stools.
- Pains, abdominal cramps.
- Unexplained weight loss.
These symptoms are only warning signs. When these symptoms are apparent, think consulting your doctor and submiting to a endoscopic test of colon.
A few pieces of advice
- Adopting a healthy diet :
Rich in fiber, fruits and vegetables,
Low in meat and sturated fat of animal origin.
- Limiting consumption of beers and alcoholic drinks.
- Watching your weight.
- Taking regular exercices.
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Update of this page : 09/2009
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