There are at least a hundred thousand cases of colon cancer diagnosed yearly in the United States. The good news, however, is that the incidence of this disease and the mortality rate has slightly decreased in recent years. This could either be a result of early colon cancer diagnosis or treatment of the disease, or a combination of both.

In the case of other cancers, tests look for small, malignant lesions. Tests for colon cancer diagnosis, however, search for pre-malignant, benign polyps. This can be almost a hundred percent effective in preventing colon cancer development. Because early colon cancer diagnosis often leads to a complete cure, it is very important, especially for those who are at high risk for colon cancer, that they get regular screening.

Cancers regardless of where it occurs usually start in one section of the body. If this is not treated, the cells will spread to nearby tissues and this is exactly what happens when you have stage 2 colon cancer.

Stage 2 colon cancer is also known as Duke B colon cancer. There are two types namely 2A and 2B. You are diagnosed to have 2A colon cancer if it has spread beyond the middle tissue layers of the colon wall or has infected around the rectum. You will have 2B if it has gone beyond the peritoneum.

Formerly known as Duke C colon cancer, stage 3 is a stage where the tumor has spread beyond its original site in the mucosa, or the first layer of the colon, into the serosa, the outermost layer. There, the tumor breeds while waiting to travel into a lymph node or blood vessel that will transport it to distant body parts.

Differentiating 3A, 3B and 3C

Stage 3 colon cancer is divided into three groups, from least advanced to most advance. The earliest stage is known as Stage 3A (formerly Duke C1), the middle stage is Stage 3B (Duke C2) and the most advanced stage is Stage 3C (Duke C3).

Stage 4 colon cancer is the most advanced colon cancer stage. The stage of a cancer, usually 1 to 4, indicates how much the disease has spread. It often takes into account the size of the tumor, how deep it has penetrated, whether it has invaded nearby organs, if and how many lymph nodes it has metastasized to, and whether it has reached distant organs.

The staging of cancer is essential because the stage during diagnosis is the strongest predictor of survival. Additionally, recommended treatments are often changed based on the cancer stage. Generally, the earlier the stage, the easier the cancer is to treat. There are five stages of colon cancer, from stages 0 to 4.

Metastatic cancer of the colon is the world’s third leading cause of cancer in males (after skin, prostate and lung cancer) and the fourth leading cause of cancer in females (following skin, lung and breast cancer).  An estimated 146,940 new cases of colon cancer are diagnosed every year, and more than fifty thousand deaths occur each year due to this disease.

What is metastatic colon cancer?

Metastatic colon cancer is a cancer that has spread from its primary site in the colon (the part of the digestive system where waste material is stored) to other parts of the body.

There are many types of cancer and one of them is colon cancer. This disease is highly risky to both women and men, with 130,000 cases being diagnosed each year. From these cases, almost 56,000 people die when Stage IV colon cancer is reached.

The chance of an individual having a cancer depends on both genetic and non-genetic factors. A genetic factor is an unchangeable trait while the non-genetic factors is referred to the people’s environment and can often be changed. You can also get colon cancer through hereditary or genetic factors.

Next to lung cancer, colon cancer is the second leading cause of death in the country. Colon cancer often starts with just a few benign polyps in the areas of the gastrointestinal tracts but undetected, these polyps can spread to other organs of the body and develop into cancerous cells. This is the terminal colon cancer stage.

This is perhaps why it is important for people to detect these polyps early on so as to prevent the development of cancer to the terminal stage. Early diagnosis in fact is very much important not only the prevention but also in the treatment of terminal colon cancer. Even if the disease has already spread, a much earlier diagnosis has a better prognosis because it is much easier to treat than a disease that is already in the terminal stages.