What is the preferred test for diagnosing colon cancer at present?

The fast-paced society has caused subtle changes in people's lives and diets, and the occurrence of colon cancer is closely related to this. Experts say that the occurrence of colon cancer often makes it difficult for patients to carry out their daily lives and work normally. So, what are the clinical diagnostic methods for colon cancer?

Common methods of diagnosing colon cancer include:

1. Serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) test: It is not specific for the detection and diagnosis of colon cancer. The increase in the value is often related to the tumor growth. It can return to normal after complete resection of the colon tumor. It can increase a few weeks before recurrence. Therefore, it is helpful for estimating prognosis, monitoring efficacy and recurrence. This is a common method for diagnosing colon cancer.

2. B-ultrasound scan, CT or MRI examination: None of them can directly diagnose colon cancer, but they are valuable in determining the location, size, relationship with surrounding tissues, lymph node and liver metastasis of the tumor. They are mainly used to understand the degree of tumor infiltration into the intestine and whether there is local lymph node or distant organ metastasis. They can be used for preoperative staging and postoperative review.

3. Stool examination: By detecting tumor M2 pyruvate kinase (M2-PK) in the stool, it was found that the M2-PK value of colon cancer patients was 14 times that of normal people. Therefore, fecal tumor M2-PK detection provides a promising new method for colon cancer screening.

4. X-ray examination: This method of diagnosing colon cancer includes barium meal examination of the entire digestive tract and barium enema examination. It can observe the overall shape of the colon, whether there are multiple polyps and multiple cancer foci, and provide a basis for surgical treatment of patients with colon cancer. The initial signs of the disease may be intestinal wall stiffness and mucosal destruction, followed by constant filling defects and intestinal stenosis. Double contrast examination of air-barium is more effective.