Colon Cancer Treatment

The treatment of colon cancer depends on the state in which the disease has advanced. If it is in an early stage it can be cured but once it reaches an advanced state it is less likely that it will be cured.

There are three types of treatment available for people who are suffering from colon cancer. These include chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery.

Surgery is usually the first treatment that is prescribed, because the tumor needs to be removed. If the tumor is discovered early it can be removed, but if the illness has advanced then a whole part of the colon has to be removed because the cancer has spread to the nearby tissues and if only the tumor is cut off then it may re-appear. Sometimes the part of the colon that has to be removed is too large, so the colon has to be completed with an artificial orifice to re-create the normal colon.

Chemotherapy is needed to reduce the tumor’s size and growth rate and also to decrease the chances of a metastatic cancer to appear. Chemotherapy is done after a surgery or only if for some reasons surgery can not be done. Chemotherapy means using medicines and drugs to destroy the cancer-infected cells.

Radiation therapy may be used after the surgery or before it. Sometimes it’s used together with chemotherapy in order to boost its effectiveness. Radiation therapy is not often used in colon cancer treatment, only in metastatic cases. It uses x-rays (or other types of rays) to destroy the tumor. It can be done from outside the body, or from inside it, by inserting radiant materials near the tumor.

There is a specific therapy for each stage of colon cancer. In stage 0 a bowel resection is done or a simple operation to remove the polyp. In stage 1 a more advanced surgery is performed. In stage 2, all three therapies may be combined(surgery, chemotherapy and radiation). For stage 4, the same, but the surgery is radical, it may also remove parts of the liver and lungs.

There are of course many other alternative therapies, but these are the standard recommended ones. The natural colon cleanse therapies may also do some good, especially if they involve a healthy diet, because this is very important for those who are suffering from colon cancer. The natural cleansers rely on the body to fight the cancer.