Symptoms

• The symptoms of colon cancer will depend on where it is located in the large intestine and how large the cancer is. Possible signs of the disease include a noticeable change in bowel habits, with constipation or diarrhea being the most obvious. Bleeding from the rectum or blood in a person's stool can be indicators of colon cancer, as can be constant pain in the abdominal region. Excess gas and cramping are potential signs of colon cancer, and pain during the course of a bowel movement could also mean that colon cancer is present. An unexplained loss of weight and a feeling of being tired all the time are also symptoms.
  
  

Early Stage Surgery

• When colon cancer is detected and it is small in nature, then surgery to remove the polyps can be performed. A colonoscopy is employed for this purpose. It involves a thin tube with a lighted, mounted camera on the end that can send an image of the colon wall to a monitor and allow a surgeon to remove polyps and take biopsies of the colon where they were attached, to check for the spread of the disease. Laparoscopic surgery through the abdominal wall using small incisions and instruments similar to those utilized during a colonoscopy can be done to remove larger polyps.
  
  

Advanced Stage Surgery

• It may be necessary to remove diseased sections of the colon along with a portion of the tissue on the sides of the compromised portion. Surgery for this purpose is called a colonectomy, and during the course of it lymph nodes in the affected region are often taken out as well so they can be tested for cancer to see if it has spread. The colon can be surgically rejoined in many cases, but in some instances an opening in the wall of the abdomen must be made and a procedure called a colostomy is performed which redirects the remaining part of the colon into a special bag that is outside of the body designed for the removal of waste products. Sometimes a colostomy is only temporary until the colon heals sufficiently for it to be reconnected.
  
  

Chemotherapy and Radiation

• Chemotherapy is a medical term that describes the use of specialized drugs that kill cancer cells and provide relief from colon cancer symptoms. It is useful in colon cancer cases but chemotherapy also can damage healthy cells in a patient and result in a number of unpleasant side effects. These include vomiting, nausea, loss of hair, diarrhea, sensitivity to cold, rashes and loss of appetite. These effects will lessen once the chemotherapy is complete and eventually go away. Chemotherapy can be in pill form or be injected through tubes intravenously. It is employed after surgery for colon cancer or to reduce the size of tumors in the colon.
  
  Radiation therapy for colon cancer is ordered to kill or to reduce the number of cancer cells, but also can produce side effects. The radiation can be from an outside source such as a machine or it can be implanted directly into a tumor surgically. Radiation therapy is particularly useful in killing cancer cells that might not have been removed during a surgery and to stop the spread of the disease.
  
  

Targeted Drug Therapy

• Drugs such as Avastin, Erbitux and Vectibix are used to target explicit defects that precipitate the formation of cancer cells. This type of treatment for colon cancer is called "targeted drug therapy" and is used mostly in advanced forms of the condition. Avastin works by not allowing cancerous tumors to develop blood vessels which can keep them alive. Erbitux and Vectibix take aim at a chemical signal that prompts cancer cells to reproduce.