What are the symptoms of rectal cancer?

Rectal cancer is the most common type of malignant tumor. Understanding the symptoms of rectal cancer is a very critical step. What are the symptoms of rectal cancer? Let us listen to the experts’ introduction to the symptoms of rectal cancer.

1. When rectal cancer grows to a certain extent, blood in the stool may occur. A small amount of bleeding is not easy to detect with the naked eye, but a large number of red blood cells can be found when examining the stool under a microscope, and the so-called fecal occult blood test is positive. When the amount of bleeding is large, blood in the stool may appear, and the blood may be bright red or dark red. When the surface of the tumor ruptures and forms ulcers, and the tumor tissue becomes necrotic and infected, pus, blood, mucus and blood in the stool may appear, which are symptoms of rectal cancer.

2. Patients may have varying degrees of feeling of incomplete defecation, a feeling of anal prolapse, and sometimes diarrhea.

3. When rectal tumors cause intestinal stenosis, the symptoms of rectal cancer may include varying degrees of intestinal obstruction (abdominal pain, bloating, and difficulty defecating), abdominal pain and bowel sounds before defecation, and relief after defecation. The stool may become thinner and grooved.

4. When the tumor invades the bladder and urethra, frequent urination, urgent urination, painful urination, and difficulty urinating may occur; when the tumor invades the vagina, rectovaginal fistula and fecal discharge from the vagina may occur; when the tumor invades the sacrum and nerves, severe pain in the sacrum and perineum may occur; when the tumor invades and compresses the ureter, low back pain may occur; the tumor may also compress the external iliac blood vessels and cause lower limb edema. The above symptoms all indicate that the tumor is in a relatively late stage.

5. When the tumor metastasizes to distant sites (liver, lungs, etc.), symptoms may occur in the corresponding organs. For example, dry cough and chest pain may occur when the tumor metastasizes to the lungs.

6. Patients may experience varying degrees of fatigue and weight loss, which are symptoms of rectal cancer.

The information explained in the above materials is all about the symptoms of rectal cancer. I hope you can learn more about the symptoms of rectal cancer from the knowledge points mentioned above. If you still have any questions about the symptoms of rectal cancer, you can consult our online experts. Here I would like to wish all patients a speedy recovery.