Medicine Atlas

How Healing Is Practiced
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Condition

Colon Cancer

Neoplasms

Colon cancer is the development of malignant cells in the colon, part of the broader colorectal cancer group that also includes rectal cancer. Its risk factors include older age, high intake of fat, sugar, alcohol, red meat and processed meats, obesity, smoking, and a lack of physical exercise, and its signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel movements, weight loss, abdominal pain and fatigue. Diagnosis is by sampling suspicious areas of the colon, typically during colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy, and treatment may combine surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and targeted therapy. Surgical treatment of colon cancer was considered essentially futile until the late nineteenth century; by 1880 only ten large bowel resections had been recorded, of which just three were considered successful, and the surgeon D. Lowson's case published in The Lancet on 25 March 1893 is the earliest documented right colectomy with a primary anastomosis, opening the path to modern resective surgery.

Facts
Classification
Body System
Digestive System 1
ICD-10 Chapter
II: Neoplasms 2
Communicable or Non-communicable
Non-Communicable 3
Transmission Route
Non-Transmissible 3
Condition Class
Malignant neoplasm of the colon (a colorectal cancer) 1
Causative Agent
Risk factors include older age, high intake of fat, sugar, alcohol, red meat and processed meats, obesity, smoking and lack of physical exercise; no single causative agent. 1
Causative Agent
Causative Agent (category)
Idiopathic / Multifactorial 1
Connections

Associated With

Treated By

Colectomy, Treatments
Source Hartmann's operation (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Colorectal Cancer
Wikipedia
  • Lead section
    Colorectal cancer, also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, intestinal cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum.
  • Cause section
    Risk factors include older age, male sex, high intake of fat, sugar, alcohol, red meat, processed meats, obesity, smoking, and a lack of physical exercise.
  • Diagnosis section
    Colorectal cancer diagnosis is performed by sampling areas of the colon suspicious for possible tumor development, typically during colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy.
  • Lead section, body-system statement
    Colorectal cancer, also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, intestinal cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine), characterized by the uncontrolled growth of colon cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body.
View the Source
2. Wikipedia: ICD-10
WikipediaList of chapters, Chapter II
Quote, List of chapters, Chapter II
Neoplasms
View the Source
3. World Health Organization: Noncommunicable diseases (fact sheet)
World Health Organization
  • Lead section, transmission-route statement (inferred from disease-category)
    The main types of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases (such as heart attacks and stroke), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma) and diabetes.
  • Main Types section
    The main types of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases (such as heart attacks and stroke), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma) and diabetes.
View the Source
Annals of Laparoscopic and Endoscopic Surgery: History of Right Colectomy for Cancer
Annals of Laparoscopic and Endoscopic SurgeryArticle body, 1880-1893 section
Quote, Article body, 1880-1893 section
By 1880, only 10 large bowel resections had been recorded and only 3 were considered successful. One other method of adjoining bowel was mentioned in Lowson's delightful paper in The Lancet, published March 25, 1893, the earliest mention of a right colectomy with a primary anastomosis.
View the Source
Peptic ulcer disease (Wikipedia)
First description of a perforated peptic ulcer was in 1670, in Princess Henrietta of England, article introView the Source
Hartmann's operation (Wikipedia)
Treated By: Hartmann's Operation, lead paragraphView the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.