Can rectal cancer be felt by hand?

Can rectal cancer be felt with your hands?

1. Whether rectal cancer can be touched depends on the specific situation. If the rectal cancer is located lower, it can usually be touched; if the rectal cancer is located higher, it cannot usually be touched.

2. For patients with rectal cancer, because the disease is located in the rectum, which is relatively low, you can sometimes touch it with your hands. About 70% or 80% of patients with rectal cancer can be found through rectal digital examination. You can touch it with your hands and feel a hard, uneven mass. If it is in the late stage, you can also touch the intestinal stenosis, the mass is fixed, and your fingers can see dirty pus and blood containing feces.

3. However, for rectal cancer that is located higher, such as swelling in the middle and upper part of the rectum, it may not be possible to touch it with your fingers. In this case, sigmoidoscopy can be used.

4. Proctoscopy and sigmoidoscopy are commonly used methods for diagnosing rectal cancer. Not only can the size, shape, and distance between the upper and lower edges of the tumor and the anus be visually seen, but pathological sections of the tumor tissue can also be used for diagnosis.