Colon Cancer Awareness :: Colorectal Cancer

In Hacienda Heights, California, Elsie Garcia a 67 year old female patient would evade the colonoscopy screening for four years which would screen for colon cancer is alive and healthy today due to a new test called FIT (fecal immunochemical test) which is less invasive than the American Cancer Society â€Å"Gold Standard â€Å"colonoscopy. She would schedule appointments for the procedure but would cancel in fear of the risk related to having colonoscopies. A Colonoscopy is considered the best way of screening for potential cancerous polyps is considered generally safe but the risk of colon perforation during the procedure is 1 in 1000 cases which would lead to serious complications. Garcia agreed to the FIT screening in which her doctors found blood in her stool. They scheduled Garcia for a follow up colonoscopy which four early cancerous polyps that were removed. Garcia was grateful for the FIT screening and is alive and health today (Szabo, 2014). Anatomy Colorectal Cancer is the third leading cancer in men and women and is considered the leading cause of cancer causing death. In the text Physiology 5th edition, the statistics show that the annual incidence of colon and rectal cancer in the United States is estimated to be 148,810 with a mortality rate of 49,960 (Copestead-Kirkhorn, 2013). The colon is a tube shaped organ in which its primary function is water absorption. It is approximately five feet in length starting from the right side of the abdomen and stretches across to the left side of abdomen appearing to like an upside down â€Å"U† shape. The colon is identified as the right colon, transverse colon, the descending colon, sigmoid colon and the rectum. The blood supply to the colon comes from the aorta which branch out into the mesenteric vessels. In the fat of the mesentery house the lymph nodes which aid in immunity and play an important role in cancer of the colon. There colon has four layers; the mucosa, submucos a, muscularis and serosa which are important in diagnosis and staging of cancer. It is within the mucosa that abnormal tissue growth such as polyps occurs (Bub-Rose-Wong, 2008). Cancer is a condition in which some cells do not follow their cell cycle rules. Every cell in the body has a specific function, the normal cell has growth cycles which are regulated and have a limited life span. The normal functioning cell stay within the boundaries of is organ or tissue of which it belongs to.