Colon cancer. Tell me about it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

A very dear friend was just diagnosed. I am very worried and don't know what to think.

Thanks.

[Bitwit1234]

1. My sister had it and was operated on

about 9 to 10 years ago. And my sister in law also. Both have had no re-occurrence. Maybe it just depends on when it is caught.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. Did they remove her colon?

My friend has to have his removed.

[Warpy]

6. Usually they only have to remove part of the colon

Sometimes they can tie the two ends together and avoid a colostomy and sometimes they can't. It depends on where the tumor is or if there are multiple tumors.

If it's caught early enough, it's very treatable.

Tell him if he has to have a colostomy, he'll never have to rush for the toilet for that reason again.

The statistics are with him on this one. Just hang in there and do a lot of listening. That's probably what he needs most of at this point.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. He said

they are pretty sure he is going to get to keep his rectum, which means no colonoscopy bag.

Thanks for the great advice. :hug:

[trotsky]

2. My grandma is an 18-year survivor.

She's 93 now, and in all likelihood it's not gonna be colon cancer that takes her. They have very good treatments for it these days!

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. That's so great to hear!

Thanks.

[Gman]

5. Do you want it sugar-coated or do you want it straight?

I know about colon cancer. My best friend died of it as did my ex-mother-in-law.

[Warpy]

7. I had an uncle who lived 12 years post diagnosis

and died of a massive heart attack when he went.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. Straight

Sorry to hear about your friend.

This is a very very close friend of mine. I am pretty broken up about it.

[pnwmom]

14. One of my relatives was in her 80's and the thing was the size of a baseball

when it was discovered (stupid, stupid doctors). But it hadn't spread, so she didn't need any further treatment. Eight years later, she's still doing great.

So it really depends on whether it has spread through the colon wall or not, but the size isn't as important.

[Gman]

23. It probably the most painful way to die from cancer

The pain is excruciating, something we cannot imagine. My friend went on morphine in April and died in November. Although we were sorry to lose him, we were all very happy for him when he passed as we knew he would never get any better. I'll leave it at that. My friend had surgery but never had chemo because he couldn't afford it (approx $56K in 2000). He was a student and had quit his job to go back to school. When it came back it was entangled in the arteries that feed the colon and was therefore inoperable.

My ex-mother-in-law was probably in just as much pain, but this woman handled pain better than anyone, including men, I know. (Of course women in general, handle pain better than men.) She went on morphine the last week or so.

Hopefully with surgery and chemo and if necessary radiation your friend can and will be just fine. If it's caught early enough, just like many other forms of cancer, colon cancer is very curable.

[Inspired]

8. My mom had her diagnosis 5 years ago.

She had a portion of her colon removed and even though the cancer hadn't spread, she had some preventative chemo treatments. She didn't do very well with the chemo so they stopped it.

My mom's prognosis is excellent but the surgery was hard on her. She went through a depression but thankfully her oncologist prescribed good medication to help her through it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. Thank you

Another friend just emailed me and said her mom is 86 and had colon cancer 30 years ago. That was good to hear.

[tekisui]

12. I lost my grandmother to it 5 years ago.

She seemed to beat the first bout. The cancer was in remission for a little over a year.

Then, it came back and hit hard. She never was on the upswing again. Like most cancers, early detection can greatly change outcomes. I wish for you and your friend the best. I understand that feeling of hearing the awful news.

[pnwmom]

13. I've had two relatives with it. A key question is what stage is it? n/t

[HysteryDiagnosis]

15. Read about it here.... sorry to hear your friend is facing this...

http://www.lef.org/protocols/cancer/colorectal_01.htm


Controllable Risk Factors

Dietary factors. In industrialized Western societies, both polyps and colon cancer occur more frequently due in part to diets low in fruits, vegetables, vegetable protein, and fiber (Satia-Aboutaj J et al 2003). Fecal mutagens are produced by certain diets such as those containing overcooked or burnt meat or fish. Increased intake of fiber, on the other hand, shortens the intestinal transit time, which in turn reduces the exposure of the colorectal lining to mutagens within the stool (Johansson G et al 1997).

Fat intake. A diet high in saturated animal fat, particularly dairy products and red meat (Jones et al R 2003), increases colorectal cancer risk (Pierre F et al 2003; Stadler J et al 1988). The digestion of fats requires the activity of normal bile acids that irritate and damage cells lining the colon. Consequently, bile acids activate factors associated with abnormal growth of these cells, resulting in an increased risk of colorectal cancer (Glinghammar B et al 1999; Suzuki K et al 1986). The ratio between the secondary bile acid deoxycholic acid and cholic acid may be an indicator of colorectal cancer risk (Kamano T et al 1999). Ingesting a sensible amount of calories and maintaining a desirable weight also play important roles in preventing colorectal cancer (Mason JB 2002).

Red meat intake. The heterocyclic amines when meat is cooked at high temperatures (e.g., by frying) are strongly associated with death from colorectal cancer (Bingham SA et al 1996; Armstrong B et al 1975). People who eat fried, well-cooked red meat more than once weekly are 2.2 times more likely to develop colorectal adenomas than are those who eat lightly browned red meat once a week or less frequently. Dietary beef induces, and dietary rye bran prevents, formation of intestinal polyps (Mutanen M et al 2000).

Folate. Low folate intake, especially when combined with alcohol consumption and a low-protein diet, increases colorectal cancer risk (Kato I et al 1999). Dietary folate influences DNA methylation, synthesis, and repair. Abnormalities in these DNA processes enhance cancer development, particularly in rapidly growing tissues such as the colorectal mucosa (Lengauer C et al 1997; Feinberg AP et al 1983). Higher folate intake from either dietary sources or supplements may protect against the initiation of colorectal cancer (Giovannucci E 2002, 1998).

Selenium. Low levels of selenium correlate with the presence of adenomas (benign tumors), whereas increased levels of selenium are associated with reduced risk of adenomas. Intervention trials have found a beneficial effect of selenium supplementation (Russo MW et al 1997).

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. His is genetic

It's a rare genetic defect.

[trotsky]

19. Yeah, you didn't deserve to have that poster's favorite supplement pusher

spew on and on about how it's your friend's fault he has has cancer. Sorry you had to read that.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

22. Genetic or not, there is information here that may be priceless yet

unavailable to your friend from traditional sources, such as.

From page 2 of this highly informative piece of work.

http://www.lef.org/protocols/cancer/colorectal_02.htm

Innovative Drug Strategies

Cimetidine (Tagamet®) is an over-the-counter ulcer medication that has beneficial effects in treating colorectal cancer and improving survival. Cimetidine prevents cancer growth and spread by several different mechanisms, including enhancing the immune response via stimulation of natural killer (NK) cells and interleukin-2 (IL-2) production, preventing histamine activity and thus immunosuppression, and reducing cancer-cell adhesion molecule expression (Tang NH et al 2004; Kubota T et al 2002; Kobayashi K et al 2000).

Colorectal cancers secrete histamine in high concentrations, enough to be locally immunosuppressive (Reynolds JL et al 1997; Melmon KL et al 1972). Histamine’s suppression of the immune response (immunosuppression) prevents the body from mounting a desirable attack against the tumor (Rocklin RE et al 1979). Cimetidine helps restore natural killer cells (Bai D et al 1999) and thus prevents this immune suppression (Adams et al 1993,1994a,b; Hansbrough JF et al 1986), resulting in prolonged survival of patients who undergo colorectal cancer surgery (Matsumoto S et al 2002).

In just seven days of treatment with 800 mg of cimetidine twice daily (Kelly MD et al 1999)—five days prior to surgery and two days post-surgery—the three-year mortality rate decreased from 41 percent to 7 percent in colorectal cancer patients (Tavani A et al 1998; Uchida A et al 1993). Furthermore, cimetidine improves survival in patients with noncurative surgery for stage IV colorectal cancer (Yoshimatsu K et al 2003). Indeed, cimetidine used in conjunction with chemotherapy can significantly improve survival rates. Patients with aggressive colon cancer had a remarkable 84.6 percent 10-year survival rate when treated with cimetidine (800 mg per day) together with 200 mg per day of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) for one year starting two weeks after surgery, compared to a 49.8 percent 10-year survival rate for patients who were not treated with cimetidine as an adjuvant therapy (Matsumoto S et al 2002). Patients who had tumors with high expression of the Lewis antigen and were treated with cimetidine had a 10-year cumulative survival rate of 95.5 percent compared to 35.1 percent for those who had tumors with low expression of the Lewis antigens (Matsumoto S et al 2002).

The FDA, however, has not approved cimetidine for use in cancer treatment, which means that colorectal cancer patients should discuss the off-label use of cimetidine with their treating physician. While cimetidine can be purchased over the counter, it may be covered by insurance if prescribed by a physician.

[NRaleighLiberal]

16. My grandfather was diagnosed in his 70s - surgery, colostomy, but lived

until 90 in good health.

[SidDithers]

18. Depends how far along it is...

I think the key is if it is contained in the colon, or has spread to other organs. We had a friend who was diagnosed with colorectal cancer a couple of years ago. The cancer had spread just outside of the colon, and he ended up having most of his colon, part of his vas deferens and part of his bladder removed. He had an illeostomy bag for about 8 months, but once that was removed, he seemed to be back to normal. He still goes for colonoscopy every 6 months, but seems to be cancer free (fingers crossed, knock on wood, etc)

ETA: forgot to add that he went through chemo and radiation after the surgery as well. It was rough, but he kept his hair, and managed to work through the entire course of treatement.


Sid

[Cirque du So-What]

20. It runs wide & deep in my mother-in-law's family

In fact, they would make an ideal case study for a medical research group, considering the sheer size of her family. My MIL's father died of colon cancer in 1959 - a time when it was relatively more rare than today & before a genetic link was widely known. My MIL had 10 siblings, 7 of whom had colon cancer in varying degrees of severity. The ones that had the most severe cases tended to have children who had worse cases as well. My MIL apparently didn't inherit the gene, as none of her descendants - with the sole exception of one of my sons, who has had two non-cancerous polyps removed - has exhibited any sign of the disease.

[Buck Laser]

21. I had it in 1975., For me it was simple surgery.

There are many different varieties of the disease, as is the case with most forms of cancer. I'm now 4 1/2 years in remission from leukemia. I wonder what'll be next.

[LeftishBrit]

24. I know someone who had it about 20 years ago...

and has had no recurrence (she is now in her late 80s).

Also two examples in the media: although neither of them was an admirable person, they do offer reassurance from this point of view. Nick Leeson, the 'rogue trader' who brought down Barings Bank, was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1999. He was only in his early 30s, which made the prognosis worse than for an older patient, but he is fine 10 years later with no sign of recurrence. Also, I remember that Ronald Reagan was treated for colon cancer while he was president; he lived about 20 years more, and, as we know, died at 93 of something quite different.

Wishing all the best to your friend!