Tachycardia: What It Is, Causes and Associated Diseases
Tachycardia refers to a condition where the heart rate exceeds the normal resting rate, typically defined as more than 100 beats per minute...
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Colon cancer, primarily characterized by colon adenocarcinoma, is a type of neoplasm whose curability primarily depends on its extent. The treatment's success and recovery prospects are significantly higher if the tumor is confined to the intestinal wall. However, if the tumor has spread to regional lymph nodes and organs, recovery becomes challenging, and the therapeutic choice narrows down to symptomatic and palliative treatments, aimed at improving the patient's quality of life as much as possible.
The treatment for colon cancer is dependent on several factors, the most important being the stage of the malignant neoplasm, the location of the tumor mass, and the general health condition of the patient. The available treatment options include surgical therapy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy.
The stage of colon cancer significantly influences the surgical therapy. For stage A, B, and sometimes C tumors that are completely removable, surgical treatment involves removing the tumor and any contaminated regional lymph nodes. This approach allows for the eradication of the disease and lays the foundation for possible recovery. However, for stage C tumors not included in the previous series and all stage D tumors, surgical treatment consists only of interventions with symptomatic and palliative purposes due to the presence of metastases.
For stage A colon tumors limited to the intestinal mucosa, there are two possible surgical approaches, both minimally invasive: endoscopic resection of the mucosa and removal via laparoscopic technique.
For stage B colon tumors and stage C colon tumors considered curable, surgical therapy involves the removal of the portion of the large intestine housing the tumor mass. This procedure is known as partial colectomy. Following this, a second operation is necessary to unite the two remaining intestinal segments, ensuring the continuity of the digestive system.
For stage C and stage D colon tumors considered untreatable, surgical therapy mainly consists of procedures aimed at unblocking the intestinal canal from the tumor mass, which due to its large size, causes intestinal obstruction or blockage.
Radiotherapy involves exposing the tumor mass to high-energy ionizing radiation (X-rays) to destroy the neoplastic cells. Depending on the stage and characteristics of the colon cancer, radiotherapy can be used as a post-surgical treatment (adjuvant radiotherapy), a pre-surgical treatment (neoadjuvant radiotherapy), a treatment combined with chemotherapy (chemoradiotherapy), or a symptomatic-palliative treatment.
Chemotherapy involves the intravenous or oral administration of drugs capable of killing rapidly growing cells, including tumor cells. Depending on the characteristics of the colon cancer, chemotherapy can be used post-surgery (adjuvant chemotherapy), pre-surgery (neoadjuvant chemotherapy), in combination with radiotherapy, or as a symptomatic-palliative treatment.
Targeted therapy is a treatment based on specific drugs that counteract everything that promotes the growth and development of tumor cells. It differs from chemotherapy in its selectivity. While chemotherapy drugs attack all rapidly growing cells, targeted therapy drugs are more specific, attacking only the tumor cells.
The prognosis of colon cancer is closely linked to the stage of the neoplasm. The chances of recovery are higher if the therapy is conducted at an early stage when the tumor mass is still small and confined to the intestine.
While it's impossible to prevent colon cancer with absolute certainty due to unclear underlying causes, certain lifestyle changes can reduce the risk. These include not smoking, avoiding excessive consumption of red meat, limiting the intake of fatty and fried foods, preferring whole grains to refined grains, regular physical exercise, eating fresh fruits and vegetables, and limiting alcohol consumption.
