If a loved one or friend has colorectal cancer, the first thing you need to know is.
1.How to confirm the diagnosis of colorectal cancer?
If the diagnosis of cancer is only based on imaging reports, it must be determined by biopsy. Most biopsies use rectoscopy or colonoscopy, and only biopsy can determine the diagnosis. If metastatic lesions are suspected, the diagnosis can also be confirmed by a puncture of the metastatic site, such as the liver.
In addition, there are many differences between colon cancer and rectal cancer, including treatment methods, so we must be sure to find out which kind of cancer it is.
2.How to determine the early and late stage of cancer?
If the diagnosis has been confirmed, the next step is to determine whether the cancer is early or late, and the common imaging methods include CT, PET and MRI.
Most of the colon cancer metastases to the liver, if it has metastasized to the liver, it is advanced stage (stage 4), if it has only metastasized to the peripheral lymph nodes, it is still early stage (stage 3).
In case of rectal cancer, it may metastasize to the lung or other parts, and if there is metastasis, it is stage 4.
3.What kind of treatment is used for early stage colorectal cancer?
It includes stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, which are curable cancers.
If it has metastasized to lymph nodes, it is stage 3, and chemotherapy should be considered after surgery.
If there is no distant metastasis but only local lymph node metastasis, radiotherapy and chemotherapy should be considered at the same time, then surgery should be considered, and adjuvant chemotherapy should also be considered.
4.How should advanced colorectal cancer be treated?
Generally, chemotherapy and targeted therapy are the main treatments, while surgery and radiotherapy are only effective for relieving local symptoms. Some interventional treatments, including radiofrequency ablation and microwave ablation, also have certain control effect on local lesions.
5.Can early colorectal cancer be treated with targeted therapy or immunotherapy?
There is no evidence to prove that targeted therapy or immunotherapy has any benefit for early colorectal cancer. On the contrary, a large number of clinical trials have confirmed that chemotherapy after surgery can improve the cure rate.
6.Can advanced colorectal cancer be treated with targeted therapy or immunotherapy?
Several oral or intravenous targeted therapy drugs have been used clinically, either in combination with chemotherapy or after chemotherapy has failed. Immunotherapy is just beginning to be studied in advanced colorectal cancer and works well in a subset of patients (especially the microsatellite unstable type). More new drugs are being tested in clinical trials, and we can also continue to pay attention to them.
7.What is the role of Chinese medicine treatment in advanced colorectal cancer?
Acupuncture or herbal medicine can often help improve cancer-related symptoms and side effects from treatment, improve patients’ quality of life, and assist in their treatment.
The main treatment is still recommended to be evidence-based, definitively effective therapies.
8.Is there any way to prevent or detect colorectal cancer?
The most effective way to detect colorectal cancer has been proven to be colonoscopy.
For most people (no family genetic history, non-high risk group), starting at age 50, every 10 years, will vary for those with a family history or abnormal findings, and in general, it is recommended to increase the frequency of colonoscopy and start at a correspondingly earlier age.
Epidemiological evidence supports the possibility that fiber-rich and meat less foods may reduce the incidence of rectal or colon cancer, and there is some evidence to support that aspirin reduces the incidence of colon cancer.