Symptoms
of Colon Cancer
Symptoms
Colorectal cancer in its early stages usually doesn't cause any
symptoms. Symptoms occur later, when the cancer may be more difficult to treat.
The most common symptoms include:
- Pain in the belly.
- Blood in your stool or very dark stools.
- A change in your bowel habits (such as more frequent stools or a feeling
that your bowels are not emptying completely).
- Fatigue.
- In rare cases, unexplained weight loss.
Colon cancer may cause no symptoms. When there are symptoms, they may depend
on where in the colon the cancer is.
- The cecum and ascending colon, the first and second parts of the colon,
are on the right side of your abdomen. Cancer in this area may bleed, causing
blood in the stool and symptoms of anemia, including fatigue and weakness. Your stool may look normal
other than the bleeding. Sometimes cancer in this area does not cause many
symptoms.
- The transverse colon, the third part, goes across your body from right
to left. Cancer here may cause abdominal cramps.
- The descending colon, the fourth part, and the S-shaped sigmoid colon, the fifth part, are on the left side of your abdomen
and join the rectum. Cancer here may cause narrower stools and bright red blood
in the stool. Sometimes this blood is mistakenly thought to come from hemorrhoids.
Having these symptoms does not mean you have cancer. A number of other
medical problems could be to blame, including:
- Irritable bowel syndrome, a common digestive problem that causes
periods of stomach pain, cramping or bloating, and diarrhea or constipation.
- Other growths in the large intestine that are not cancer.
- Diverticulitis, a condition in which pouches form in the wall of
the colon and become painful, swollen, or infected.
- Infections that cause diarrhea, such as salmonella.
- Inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, which cause swelling and sores in the
intestines.
- Bleeding hemorrhoids.
- Ulcers of the rectum.
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