Symptoms of bowel cancer in women. Bowel cancer: statistics

Few diseases cause such a strong fear in the population, like cancer. And it is not surprising, because this disease is fatal, and the treatment is very expensive. In recent years, science and medicine have advanced very much in development, inventing all new drugs and methods for fighting cancer, but the oncological diagnosis still sounds like a verdict. The worst thing is that no one is immune from this disease.

A special place among cancer in women is occupied by tumors in the digestive tract. Including intestinal cancer, the first symptoms of which practically do not manifest themselves. How does this disease begin, and what precedes the onset of a tumor? What do doctors say, and how dangerous is this? Let's figure it out.

The nature of cancer

Our body consists of an innumerable array of microscopic cells that perform certain functions. Normally, cells divide, live and die, and new ones develop instead. For example, the gastric membrane is updated every 4 days, which is an absolutely normal process.

Sometimes it happens that, under the influence of certain factors, some cells begin to share with unusual speed, as a result of which the body loses control over them and ceases to recognize them. The struggle with them as such does not happen.

But the most terrible thing is that these newly formed cells do not die as it should be, but continue to live and reproduce further. This is the nature of the onset of tumors that oncology is studying.

Cancer of the small intestine

When the cancer of the small intestine affects the glandular tissue of the intestine, its mucosa. So there is a tumor, which eventually grows and penetrates into neighboring organs. Alas, but intestinal cancer, the symptoms and manifestation of which are visible only in 3-4 stages, is very dangerous for the body, and to notice it at the beginning of the disease is not easy.

According to statistics, cancer of the small intestine occurs extremely rarely. Against the background of other cancers this disease affects no more than 2% of cancer patients. 80% of small intestine cancer occurs in the elderly, but the remaining 20% for young people is too much.

In women, the variety of this cancer is extremely rare. The most common disease in older men, whose age has already passed the 60-year-old line. The reasons for this phenomenon remain unclear, perhaps it is the peculiarities of the structure of the female body.

Types of neoplasm in the small intestine

Cancer of the small intestine can occur in the form of:

● adenocarcinomas;

● sarcomas;

● carcinoid;

● lymphomas.

The most common cancer of the small intestine, the symptoms of which appear only after a certain time, can occur in the form of adenocarcinoma, which is a lesion of the glandular tissue of the intestine. Carcenoid is very rare, it accounts for about 3% of cancers.

Most often, this disease affects people in developing Asian countries. In highly developed countries, bowel cancer in women is much less common - statistics say that such cases are observed only among the elderly.

Symptoms of bowel cancer

Cancer is a rather insidious disease, therefore at the initial stages it practically does not manifest itself. Up to a year the patient can not feel any changes in the body at all. Symptoms start to appear when the tumor has spread to neighboring organs. The symptoms of intestinal cancer in women are as follows:

• Problems with the intestines, manifested by bloating, obstruction, abdominal pain and stool disorder.

• Causeless weight loss. If you have bowel cancer - the first symptoms can manifest itself in a strange weight loss.

• Yellowness of proteins and skin.

• Decreased appetite.

• Bleeding in the intestine, which is rare, with sarcoma.

These symptoms indicate that you should immediately visit a doctor and take all the necessary tests. Symptoms of intestinal cancer in women in the early stages are manifested by a lower hemoglobin content in the blood and a violation of the liver functions. However, such signs are detected only as a result of analyzes.

Stages of small intestine cancer

Cancer is in principle a long and complex process that goes through several stages of development. Each stage has its own characteristic differences. In all, there are 4.

1 stage. This is the initial stage of the disease, which lasts quite a long time. Over a period of about 5 years, the tumor grows to 2 cm in diameter and is not yet spread to the lymph nodes and nearby organs.

2 stage. The tumor is larger than 2 cm and spread to one lymph node. At this stage, only the cancer of the small intestine is developing, its symptoms are not yet fully manifested.

3 stage. Characterized by large formation in the intestine and metastases in the lymph nodes. At this stage, the cancer becomes very dangerous, and it is not easy to cure the patient.

4 th stage. The tumor passed to neighboring organs and has a large number of metastases. Malignant cells are divided at a furious pace, the disease itself is progressing.

The danger is that in the first two stages a person in no way feels a change in his health. Cancer in such cases can be diagnosed only during a surgical operation or by means of an X-ray.

Causes of small bowel cancer

The reasons provoking the disease include:

• Alcohol abuse and smoking;

• frequent use of carcinogenic food;

• chronic inflammatory processes in the intestine;

• ulcerative colitis;

• Crohn's disease;

• celiac disease;

• radiation;

• Peits-Yegers syndrome;

• pathological processes associated with the production of enzymes of the gastrointestinal tract;

• genetic disorders;

• metastases in the small intestine.

People at risk are people who previously had cancer, people who are genetically predisposed to cancer, and, as already noted, elderly.

Diagnosis of cancer

Diagnosis is carried out using various methods with the use of special equipment. Symptoms of intestinal cancer in women at the initial stages may be manifested by pallor of the skin caused by low hemoglobin. The tumor itself can be detected only by ultrasound. Analyzes can show a slight deviation from the norm of the content of leukocytes in the blood.

At later stages, a cancerous tumor can be detected by palpation. It is characterized by a tuberous form, can take the form of a flat ulcer or a cuplike shape. As a rule, the method of palpation reveals cancer, located at the third stage. At the 4th stage, you can see with an unaided eye the cancer of the intestine, the symptoms and manifestation of which are literally evident to the experienced doctor.

For the diagnosis of cancer of the small intestine apply:

• Computed tomography;

• magnetic resonance;

• Fibrogastroscopy;

• Vascular angiography;

• Laparoscopy;

• roentgenology;

• biopsy;

• Colonoscopy.

All these methods are used to diagnose cancer in the small intestine. However, sometimes it is enough for doctors to apply only some of them in order to fully see and evaluate the swelling in the abdominal cavity.

Treatment of small intestine cancer

The most popular and effective method of fighting cancer is still considered surgical intervention. In the early stages, surgery successfully fights the disease, and the survival rate is very high.

In later stages, in addition to surgery, chemotherapy is also needed, which involves injecting various drugs into the body through injections or droppers. Chemotherapy inhibits cell growth and fights with their reproduction.

Sometimes radiotherapy is applied, which can directly affect the site of a cancerous tumor. The peculiarity of the method is that if radiation does not kill the malignant cells, then it has the most negative effect on them.

These two methods have a lot of side effects, which have a negative effect on patients. But nevertheless they have the right to exist and are widely used in modern medicine.

Recently, popular means for fighting cancer have been widely advertised. You should know that this is pure swindle and, taking some kind of herbs, you are just wasting your time. With cancer you need to fight through official medicine. Only in this way will you be sure of the correctness of the treatment.

Unfortunately, the symptoms of intestinal cancer in women are very unpredictable, however, as was noted earlier, the most frequent and early sign of the disease is the pale skin. Therefore, even with such a minor discomfort should immediately go to the doctor. Remember that detecting and curing cancer in the early stages is much easier than after the disease progressed to the point of no return.