The general five-year survival rate for advanced bowel cancer is very low, basically no more than 2 years, but there are isolated cases where survival is longer.
Colorectal cancer is the most common malignancy worldwide and includes both colon and rectal cancers. The histological types of colorectal cancer are adenocarcinoma, adenosquamous carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and undifferentiated carcinoma, with adenocarcinoma being the most common. The time that colon and rectal cancers can survive in late stages is specifically determined by the histological type, malignancy of the cancer cells, treatment, presence or absence of metastasis, individual physical differences, immune status, etc.
Patients with exophytic and polypoid tumors have a better prognosis than those with ulcerative and invasive tumors; surgical pathologic staging, depth of tumor invasion through the bowel wall, and degree of lymph node spread are important factors affecting patient prognosis; poorly differentiated tumors have a worse prognosis than well-differentiated tumors.
Rectal colon cancer has clear precancerous lesions, and it has a relatively long time to develop to intermediate and advanced cancer, so we have a relatively long time to prevent colorectal cancer through treatment. For those at high risk (e.g., family history of colorectal cancer, history of rectal colon polyps), early screening should be performed to detect the lesions as early as possible.