Differential diagnosis of colon cancer

The differential diagnosis of colon cancer is mainly to differentiate from inflammatory diseases of the colon, such as intestinal tuberculosis, siphoniasis, granuloma, amebic granuloma, ulcerative colitis and colon polyposis, etc. The key points of clinical differentiation are the duration of the disease, parasites in stool examination, the morphology and range of lesions found in barium enema examination, etc. The most reliable differentiation is through colonoscopy and biopsy.

Periappendiceal abscess may be misdiagnosed as cecal cancer (colon cancer), but the blood count of this disease shows an increase in white blood cells and neutrophils, without cachexia such as anemia and emaciation. A barium enema examination can confirm the diagnosis.

Colon cancer is often misdiagnosed as hemorrhoids, bacillary dysentery, chronic colitis, etc. The misdiagnosis rate is as high as 60%-80%, and the main reason is that the necessary examinations are not performed, especially digital rectal examination and proctoscopy.

Other colon tumors, such as colorectal carcinoid, are asymptomatic when the tumor is small, but may rupture when the tumor grows larger, resulting in symptoms very similar to colon adenocarcinoma; malignant lymphoma originating in the colon has diverse lesion morphology and is often difficult to distinguish from colon cancer. Tissue biopsy should be performed for differentiation.