Standardized treatment of colorectal cancer

Among the methods of colorectal cancer treatment, many patients may have tried surgical treatment, but this treatment method can only play a temporary role and cannot guarantee the long-term stability of the disease. Therefore, before treatment, patients must consider it carefully and try to ensure that the disease can remain stable for a long time after treatment. Let's ask the experts to introduce us to the methods of treating colorectal cancer.

4 common treatments for colorectal cancer

1. Surgical treatment

The only radical cure for colorectal cancer is early resection of the tumor. If the tumor is found to have metastasized during exploration, but the diseased intestinal segment can be freed, the lesion should be removed in principle to avoid intestinal obstruction in the future.

2. Radiation therapy

Radiotherapy for colorectal cancer is divided into radical radiotherapy, palliative radiotherapy and pre- and post-operative radiotherapy according to different pathological types and lesion ranges. However, the effect of radiotherapy alone is often unsatisfactory, so it is advocated to use radiotherapy before and after surgery to improve the efficacy, or to use radiotherapy in combination with surgery.

3. Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy for colorectal cancer is mainly used for adjuvant treatment before, during or after surgery, as well as palliative treatment for inoperable cancer or recurrence and metastasis. Fluorouracil (FU) is the approved drug.

4. Treatment with traditional Chinese medicine

Combining strengthening the body's health and eliminating evil: TCM believes that the occurrence and development of tumors is actually a struggle between pathogenic factors and the body's health. When pathogenic factors are strong, the condition worsens, while when the health is strong, the condition improves. TCM treatment of tumors is to take various measures to continuously support the health and eliminate the evil, so that the situation of the struggle between the health and the evil is constantly transformed in a direction that is conducive to the recovery of the disease.

Early symptoms of colorectal cancer

1. Blood in the stool

It is one of the early symptoms of all colorectal cancers, but the time and nature of colorectal cancer in different parts of the body are different. Blood in the stool is often the first symptom of patients with rectal cancer. The amount is very small in the early stage, and there are mostly fresh blood stains on one side of the stool. A few patients will discharge a large amount of fresh blood in drops after the stool is discharged. Because the sigmoid colon is closely connected to the rectum, the characteristics of blood in the stool of sigmoid colon cancer are similar to those of rectal cancer. However, due to the prolonged stay of stool in the sigmoid colon, the color of blood in the stool will become darker, resulting in the discharge of purple or black purple stools, and the time of blood in the stool will also be relatively late. It is not necessarily the first symptom of the patient. Sometimes due to the small amount of blood or the long stay time in the body, it cannot be detected by the naked eye, but the fecal occult blood test is positive.

2. Changes in bowel habits

These include changes in bowel movement time and frequency, as well as constipation or unexplained diarrhea. Patients with rectal cancer may have more frequent bowel movements, but not much stool each time, or even no stool at all, only some mucus and blood, and a feeling of incomplete bowel movements. Some patients may have diarrhea after constipation, or their stools may be dry at the beginning and become thinner at the end, or they may have alternating constipation and diarrhea.

3. Abnormal stool shape

Normal stool is cylindrical and discharged vertically from the anus. If the tumor protrudes into the rectal cavity and compresses the stool, the discharged stool will often become thinner and the shape may also change to become flat. Sometimes the deformed stool will be attached with a trace of blood.

4. Diarrhea

For some patients, diarrhea may be the first symptom. The patients have more bowel movements per day, which may be bloody and mucous stools, bloody and mucous stools, or loose and watery stools, and may be accompanied by a feeling of tenesmus.

5. Pain during bowel movements

About 50% of patients with rectal cancer experience pain during bowel movements, with varying degrees of severity. Colorectal cancer is a very stubborn disease that hides deep within the body, so when it is discovered, it must be treated early to avoid missing the best treatment period. I hope that all of you can make good use of it.