Methods for diagnosing early rectal cancer

For rectal cancer, a common intestinal disease, the symptoms are generally not very obvious in the early stage of the disease, and patients often ignore it as gastroenteritis, etc. By the time obvious symptoms appear, it is already in the middle and late stages. Therefore, it is very important to diagnose rectal cancer in time. Today, let's learn about the methods of diagnosing rectal cancer with the editor.

(1) Clinical manifestations: including symptoms and signs. Blood in the stool and changes in stool characteristics are typical symptoms of rectal cancer. If the above symptoms appear or the clinical symptoms of existing chronic intestinal or rectal or anal diseases change or worsen, rectal cancer should be highly suspected and further examination should be conducted. A simple and feasible method is digital rectal examination. The palpation of a tumor during rectal examination is the most important sign of rectal cancer. The vast majority of missed diagnoses and misdiagnoses of rectal cancer are due to the failure to perform digital rectal examination. Typical bowel habits and changes in stool characteristics, as well as palpation of tumors during digital rectal examination, can lead to clinical diagnosis of most left and right rectal cancers. The key to the problem is the degree of attention paid by doctors and patients.
(2) Laboratory tests and detection of tumor markers CEA and CA19-9 can assist in diagnosis and can also serve as indicators for monitoring the efficacy of treatment.
(3) Barium enema: In particular, double contrast barium enema can help determine the location and size of the tumor. It can also reveal whether there are multiple primary colorectal cancers, or (and) concomitant colorectal polyps or adenomas, and whether they need to be treated simultaneously.