Colorectal cancer includes colon cancer and rectal cancer, among which rectal cancer is the most common, followed by sigmoid colon, cecum, ascending colon, descending colon and transverse colon. Colorectal cancer is the third most common malignancy, with 560,000 new cases of colorectal cancer and about 290,000 deaths due to colorectal cancer in China in 2020. What is more worrying is that in recent years, colorectal cancer has a tendency to become younger, and it is not uncommon to find people in their 30s or even 20s, so colorectal cancer has become a major killer of people’s health.
How is colorectal cancer formed?
The cause of colorectal cancer is currently considered to be the result of the synergistic effect of various factors such as environmental factors, diet, living habits and genetics. However, the formation of colorectal cancer is very simple again. More than 90% of colorectal cancer is slowly developed from intestinal polyps. Most of them are discovered only during physical examination or examination of other diseases. The process of colorectal cancer formation is generally: small polyp → large polyp → severe atypical hyperplasia → carcinoma in situ → invasive carcinoma → metastatic carcinoma. From intestinal polyp to the formation of intestinal cancer, it may be five years or more than ten years, because this process develops more slowly, it is easy to detect and prevent early, so colon cancer is also the best cancer to be prevented.
So how to prevent colorectal cancer as a healthy population?
Primary prevention is the foundation
Like other cancers, primary prevention of colorectal cancer refers to reducing and eliminating the causative factors of colorectal cancer from the source, preventing people from growing cancer through etiological prevention, mainly improving lifestyle to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.
1.Reasonable diet: The occurrence of colorectal cancer is closely related to diet, with the change of Chinese diet structure, the high protein, high calorie and low fiber diet greatly increases the occurrence of colorectal cancer, therefore, to prevent colorectal cancer, we should reduce the intake of fine food, eat less red meat (pork, beef, lamb and offal) and processed meat products (bacon, ham, sausage, etc.), and eat more fresh vegetables and fruits. Ensuring to eat 500 grams of vegetables and fruits every day can significantly reduce the incidence of colorectal cancer.
2.Moderate exercise: regular exercise can promote intestinal peristalsis, which can help the bowel flow smoothly and reduce the contact time between intestinal mucosa and carcinogens in feces. Engaging in 30 minutes of aerobic exercise every day can reduce the transformation of intestinal polyps into colorectal cancer by one-third.
3.Stay away from smoking and alcohol: long years of smoking and drinking too much alcohol are two important causes of colorectal cancer, some information shows that drinking 45 grams of alcohol per day increases the risk of colorectal cancer to 1.41 times, smoking increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 1.2 times, so stay away from smoking and alcohol is to stay away from death.
Secondary prevention is the most important
If primary prevention can achieve no colorectal cancer, of course, it is best, but the occurrence of colorectal cancer is the result of a combination of factors, so primary prevention is often not very realistic to keep people from cancer. Secondary prevention of colorectal cancer refers to early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment through regular medical checkups so that patients can achieve cure and long-term survival, so secondary prevention of colorectal cancer is very important. Since colorectal cancer is almost asymptomatic in early stage, early detection in healthy people requires early screening of colorectal cancer, and the common screening methods are as follows
1.Fecal occult blood test: It is a chemical test to detect the trace amount of blood in the stool that is invisible to the naked eye, which is the most important means of non-invasive screening for colorectal cancer. It is especially suitable for early screening of healthy people, and if the test result is positive, further screening by colonoscopy can be done.
2.Fecal DNA test: It is a test to detect the degree of genetic mutation of tumor cells shed in stool, and is a promising non-invasive technology for colorectal cancer screening, and can also detect occult blood in stool. It can be done every once or three years for healthy people. If the test result is positive, it is necessary to do colonoscopy.
3.Colonoscopy: Colonoscopy occupies a unique and irreplaceable position in colorectal cancer screening and is the core part of the whole colorectal cancer screening process. Colonoscopy is a soft tube with high-definition camera, which can observe the whole colon very visually after entering the intestine. Due to the use of advanced magnification and staining technology, almost more than 96% of tiny polyps can be detected, and early colorectal cancer and precancerous lesions can be found through pathological biopsy, so it is the gold standard for colorectal cancer diagnosis. Therefore, a colonoscopy should be done before the age of 40. According to the characteristics of colorectal cancer occurrence, it is likely to be still a polyp before the age of 40, which at most belongs to early cancer and can be completely radicalized, and there is no need to operate yet, it can be done under endoscopy, and even hospitalization is not needed.
Recommended methods of colorectal cancer screening for healthy people
1.Fecal occult blood test: the recommended screening cycle is once a year.
2.Fecal DNA test: the recommended screening cycle is once every 1 to 3 years
3.Colonoscopy: the recommended screening cycle is one high-quality colonoscopy every 5 to 10 years.
These seven groups of high-risk people should be screened immediately
1, people over 40 years of age.
2.People with hemorrhoids and chronic blood in the stool.
3.People with a history of colorectal cancer in their immediate family
4. people with chronic diarrhea, recurrent or lasting for more than 3 months
5, frequent constipation, black blood stools and mucus stools.
6, long-term mental depression, significant weight loss in the past three months.
7. Obese people.
Colorectal cancer includes colon cancer and rectal cancer, among which rectal cancer is the most common, followed by sigmoid colon, cecum, ascending colon, descending colon and transverse colon. Colorectal cancer is the third most common malignancy, with 560,000 new cases of colorectal cancer and about 290,000 deaths due to colorectal cancer in China in 2020. What is more worrying is that in recent years, colorectal cancer has a tendency to become younger, and it is not uncommon to find people in their 30s or even 20s, so colorectal cancer has become a major killer of people’s health.
How is colorectal cancer formed?
The cause of colorectal cancer is currently considered to be the result of the synergistic effect of various factors such as environmental factors, diet, living habits and genetics. However, the formation of colorectal cancer is very simple again. More than 90% of colorectal cancer is slowly developed from intestinal polyps. Most of them are discovered only during physical examination or examination of other diseases. The process of colorectal cancer formation is generally: small polyp → large polyp → severe atypical hyperplasia → carcinoma in situ → invasive carcinoma → metastatic carcinoma. From intestinal polyp to the formation of intestinal cancer, it may be five years or more than ten years, because this process develops more slowly, it is easy to detect and prevent early, so colon cancer is also the best cancer to be prevented.
So how to prevent colorectal cancer as a healthy population?
Primary prevention is the foundation
Like other cancers, primary prevention of colorectal cancer refers to reducing and eliminating the causative factors of colorectal cancer from the source, preventing people from growing cancer through etiological prevention, mainly improving lifestyle to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.
1.Reasonable diet: The occurrence of colorectal cancer is closely related to diet, with the change of Chinese diet structure, the high protein, high calorie and low fiber diet greatly increases the occurrence of colorectal cancer, therefore, to prevent colorectal cancer, we should reduce the intake of fine food, eat less red meat (pork, beef, lamb and offal) and processed meat products (bacon, ham, sausage, etc.), and eat more fresh vegetables and fruits. Ensuring to eat 500 grams of vegetables and fruits every day can significantly reduce the incidence of colorectal cancer.
2.Moderate exercise: regular exercise can promote intestinal peristalsis, which can help the bowel flow smoothly and reduce the contact time between intestinal mucosa and carcinogens in feces. Engaging in 30 minutes of aerobic exercise every day can reduce the transformation of intestinal polyps into colorectal cancer by one-third.
3.Stay away from smoking and alcohol: long years of smoking and drinking too much alcohol are two important causes of colorectal cancer, some information shows that drinking 45 grams of alcohol per day increases the risk of colorectal cancer to 1.41 times, smoking increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 1.2 times, so stay away from smoking and alcohol is to stay away from death.
Secondary prevention is the most important
If primary prevention can achieve no colorectal cancer, of course, it is best, but the occurrence of colorectal cancer is the result of a combination of factors, so primary prevention is often not very realistic to keep people from cancer. Secondary prevention of colorectal cancer refers to early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment through regular medical checkups so that patients can achieve cure and long-term survival, so secondary prevention of colorectal cancer is very important. Since colorectal cancer is almost asymptomatic in early stage, early detection in healthy people requires early screening of colorectal cancer, and the common screening methods are as follows
1.Fecal occult blood test: It is a chemical test to detect the trace amount of blood in the stool that is invisible to the naked eye, which is the most important means of non-invasive screening for colorectal cancer. It is especially suitable for early screening of healthy people, and if the test result is positive, further screening by colonoscopy can be done.
2.Fecal DNA test: It is a test to detect the degree of genetic mutation of tumor cells shed in stool, and is a promising non-invasive technology for colorectal cancer screening, and can also detect occult blood in stool. It can be done every once or three years for healthy people. If the test result is positive, it is necessary to do colonoscopy.
3.Colonoscopy: Colonoscopy occupies a unique and irreplaceable position in colorectal cancer screening and is the core part of the whole colorectal cancer screening process. Colonoscopy is a soft tube with high-definition camera, which can observe the whole colon very visually after entering the intestine. Due to the use of advanced magnification and staining technology, almost more than 96% of tiny polyps can be detected, and early colorectal cancer and precancerous lesions can be found through pathological biopsy, so it is the gold standard for colorectal cancer diagnosis. Therefore, a colonoscopy should be done before the age of 40. According to the characteristics of colorectal cancer occurrence, it is likely to be still a polyp before the age of 40, which at most belongs to early cancer and can be completely radicalized, and there is no need to operate yet, it can be done under endoscopy, and even hospitalization is not needed.
Recommended methods of colorectal cancer screening for healthy people
1.Fecal occult blood test: the recommended screening cycle is once a year.
2.Fecal DNA test: the recommended screening cycle is once every 1 to 3 years
3.Colonoscopy: the recommended screening cycle is one high-quality colonoscopy every 5 to 10 years.
These seven groups of high-risk people should be screened immediately
1, people over 40 years of age.
2.People with hemorrhoids and chronic blood in the stool.
3.People with a history of colorectal cancer in their immediate family
4. people with chronic diarrhea, recurrent or lasting for more than 3 months
5, frequent constipation, black blood stools and mucus stools.
6, long-term mental depression, significant weight loss in the past three months.
7, obese people.