Colon cancer and colonoscopy
Colon cancer (malignant tumor) is a common and deadly disease. In Europe, it ranks second in mortality from all malignant diseases, i.e. 13% of the total number of people suffering from all malignant diseases suffer from colon tumors. About 215,000 people die annually in Europe from colon cancer, every three minutes one European becomes a victim of this vicious disease.
How can colon tumors be prevented?
Malignant tumors can be detected in time and are curable in the early stages of the disease. Very often, tumors in the early stage do not cause any problems. With an endoscopic examination (colonoscopy), the gastroenterologist is able to examine the entire large intestine and, during the examination, remove polyps (growths that grow into tumors over time) and thus prevent the development of cancer.
Colonoscopy examinations and early detection can reduce mortality from this malignant disease by more than 30%. Endoscopic examination is very precise, reliable and safe, while other methods, which are alternatives to colonoscopy, do not have this possibility. The patient comes to the colonoscopy after preparation – bowel cleansing, which is painless and lasts about 24 hours. On the day of the examination, the patient is recommended to rest, due to preparation and recovery from the anesthesia he is in during the examination.
What is colon cancer screening and why is it so important?
When a colonoscopy is performed on patients who have or have had a family history of colon cancer and/or patients over 50 years of age (without abnormalities that would indicate a colon tumor), then it is a preventive examination or screening. This is an ideal examination because it allows the removal of all polyps and detection of the disease at an early stage, before its spread, sudden growth and problems brought by an advanced disease have started. Screening begins at the age of fifty, and the time periods in which the examinations are performed are for ten years, which means that with an orderly finding, the patient is “ peaceful” for a certain period of time.
When is a colonoscopy urgent?
If the patient has difficult or irregular bowel movements, when there is blood in the stool, anemia and weight loss.
What is the reason for not showing up for a colonoscopy?
It is most often lack of information about the importance of the examination, fear of pain or discomfort from the examination itself – colonoscopy, then insufficient information about the examination itself and the method of preparation, other people’s “ bad” experiences (especially patients who did the examination without anesthesia and had painful trauma). A colonoscopy performed after good preparation, with anesthesia, is a comfortable, painless and safe examination that “ saves life”. The disease should not be allowed to progress to the stage when it is incurable and when after surgery it impairs the quality of the remaining life.
Dr. sci med Vladan N. Petrović
spec. int. gastroenterologist