Colorectal Cancer
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What is Colorectal Cancer?
Colorectal cancer is a type of cancer that forms in the colon or the rectum. You may understand this cancer to be called colon cancer or rectal cancer because they have many similarities. Most colorectal cancers begin in the form of polyps that grow on glandular cells that line the inside of the colon or rectum. However, not all polyps will eventually become cancerous. These forms of colorectal cancer begin to spread if the polyp(s) grow into the wall of the colon or rectum, eventually reaching blood vessels or lymph vessels.
Colorectal cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer found in the United States. Even though there's uncertainty around how colon and rectal cancers form, there are a number of risk factors including older age, personal history of colorectal cancer or polyps, inflammatory intestinal conditions, family history, sedentary lifestyles, and personal/family history of colon or rectal cancer.
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Symptoms of Colorectal Cancer
According to the American Cancer Society, common signs and symptoms of colorectal cancer include:
- A change in bowel habits, such as diarrhea, constipation, or narrowing of the stool, that lasts for more than a few days
- A feeling that you need to have a bowel movement that's not relieved by having one
- Rectal bleeding with bright red blood
- Blood in the stool, which might make the stool look dark brown or black
- Cramping or abdominal (belly) pain
- Weakness and fatigue
- Unintended weight loss
Colorectal Cancer Stadistics
The American Cancer Society also provides us with key statistics regarding colorectal cancer including:
- lifetime risk in men is about 1 in 23 (4.3%)
- lifetime risk in women is about 1 in 25 (4.0%)
- an estimated 104,270 new cases of colon cancer will arise in 2021
How can we help?
FOMAT is enrolling participants for active colorectal cancer studies