Clinical manifestations of colon cancer

Most patients with colon cancer are middle-aged or older, with a median age of 45, and about 5% of patients are under 30 years old. The clinical manifestations of colon cancer vary depending on the size, location and pathological type of the lesion. Many patients with early colon cancer may have no clinical symptoms, but as the disease progresses and the lesion continues to grow, a series of common symptoms of colon cancer may occur, such as increased frequency of bowel movements, blood and mucus in the stool, abdominal pain, diarrhea or constipation, intestinal obstruction, as well as general fatigue, weight loss and anemia.

1. Early symptoms: In the earliest stage, there may be abdominal distension, discomfort, and indigestion-like symptoms, followed by changes in bowel habits, such as increased bowel movements, diarrhea or constipation, and abdominal pain before defecation. Later, there may be mucus in the stool or mucus-purulent blood in the stool.

2. Symptoms of poisoning Due to blood loss caused by tumor ulceration and absorption of toxins, patients often experience anemia, low fever, fatigue, weight loss, edema, etc., among which anemia and weight loss are particularly prominent.

3. Intestinal obstruction is manifested by incomplete or complete low-position intestinal obstruction symptoms, such as abdominal distension, abdominal pain (distension or colic), constipation or constipation. Physical examination can reveal abdominal distension, intestinal type, local tenderness, and hyperactive bowel sounds.

4. The abdominal mass is a tumor or a mass that has infiltrated and adhered to the omentum and surrounding tissues. It is hard and irregular in shape. Some of them may have a certain degree of mobility along the intestinal tract. In the late stage, the tumor infiltration is more severe and the mass may be fixed.

5. Late-stage symptoms include jaundice, ascites, edema and other signs of liver metastasis, as well as cachexia, a mass in the anterior rectal fossa, supraclavicular lymph node enlargement and other manifestations of distant tumor spread and metastasis.