Cell is the basic element of the living beings. Human body made with millions of cells. In our daily life many cell are destroyed and when the cell is destroyed the human body make a new same cell. In this process many errors occur, some of these mistakes are corrected by additional elegant systems. Sometimes, these mistakes are not corrected and these make effect on the health. Sometimes newly cells divide independently; in this case tumor can develop. This tumor is called cancer. Cancer is not a single entity actually it is a group of more than 100 different diseases. Cancer is named by the tissues from which first tumor develop.

In the human body the colon is the final portion of (intestine) digestive system. Colon cancer develop when the when the replacement of living cell is not normal in the colon. Colon cancer with rectal cancer (which is cancer in last inches of colon) called colorectal cancer.

In the start, colon cancer is small clump of cell which is called adenomatous polyps, with time these polyps convert into colon cancers. Colon cancer may run in the family, if a person has family history of colon cancer in early age then the risk of disease increased.

Causes of Colon Cancer:
Colon cancer is due to out of control of cells. It begins with precancerous cells in colon. These precancerous cells look like mushroom. These cells convert into colon cancer.

Colon cancer also runs in the families. If the person has inherited gene mutations the risk of colon cancer is increased. In the inherited colon cancer syndromes there are:

Familial adenomatous polyposis, which develop due to thousands of precancerous cells in the lining of colon and rectum.

Heredity nonpolyposis colorectal cancer or Lynch syndrome, it increases the risk of colon cancer and other before age of 50.

Chronic inflammatory disease of colon increases the risk of colon cancer.

There are high risk of colon cancer if patient use food which contain low fiber and high fat and calories. Regular physical activity reduces the risk of colon cancer. Diabetes, obesity, smoking and alcohol also increase the risk f colon cancer.

Symptoms of Colon Cancer:
The symptoms of colon cancer are
• Bowel habits changes like diarrhea, constipation for some days
• Need of bowel movement but have feelings of not relieved after doing it
• Rectal bleeding
• Blood in stool
• Cramping or andominal discomfort.
• Weakness
• Fatigue
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss
• Pelvic pain
• Vomiting

Stages of Colon Cancer:
Stages of colon cancer depend on the how far it spread in the walls of colon. There are five stages of colon cancer.

Stage 0:
It is an early stage. In it cancer is found only in innermost part of colon

Stage 1:
In this stage colon spread into the second and third layer of colon, in this stage cancer spread inside of colon not outside of colon.

Stage 2:
In this stage cancer spread in the muscular wall of colon but not in lymph.

Stage 3:
In this stage cancer spread outside of the colon, and also in the one or more of Lymph nodes

Stage 4:
In this stage cancer spread in the other parts of body e.g. liver etc. the size of cancer may vary.

Diagnosis of Colon Cancer:
The diagnosis of colon cancer may diagnosis by following methods
• Flexible - Sigmoidoscopy, use to looks inside the colon to see the growth of the cancer.
• Fecal Occult Blood test, use to trace the blood by examining the stool of patient.
• Colonscopy, use to look inside the colon to get sample of tissue to test them for cancer.
• Double Contrast Barium Enema, use to see the patient's colon on X-ray screen.
• DNA- Based stool test, Use to detect the genetic defect from the patient's stool.

Treatment of Colon Cancer:
The survival rate of patient of colon cancer after treatment is 90 percent. In the first step of treatment doctor diagnosis the stage of colon cancer to see how much cancer spread in the body. The treatments are such as
• Use special chemical or radiation to kills the cancer cells
• Do surgery to remove the cancer cells.
• Use palliative care to improve the quality of life of patients.

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