Even half of colon cancer cases are preventable, just follow a few simple rules

Associate Professor Rasa Jančiauskienė, Head of the Department of Oncology at the Lithuanian Health Sciences Hospital, and Professor Tomas Poška, ​​Doctor of Abdominal Surgery at Vilnius University Hospital, spoke about this disease in the program “Recipes for the Health”.

– Although colon cancer is the third most common cancer disease in Lithuania, we hear a lot about prevention programs to find this cancer. Docent, why is that?

– R. Jančiauskienė: Perhaps one of the reasons may be that this program was the last of the 4 programs. Another reason is perhaps that breast or prostate control is more accepted. At that time, people are more afraid of bowel exams. On the other hand, Lithuanians pay little attention to their overall health.

– How many people in Lithuania suffer from this disease?

– R. Jančiauskienė: Every year about 700 people get sick and about 900 die. Until last year, the prevention program worked very well and every year about 260,000 people were examined. But due to the quarantine, the numbers have dropped dramatically. Today, the Health Insurance Funds announce that about 33 percent fewer healthy people without symptoms have come to be screened. That’s a really big number: 86,000 in 2020 did not have preventive screenings.

– Which doctors should be reminded to have a preventive check-up?

– R. Jančiauskienė: First of all, this program works and has paid off for 50-74 year olds. Every two years patients can participate in this program, it is reimbursed by the State Health Insurance Fund, a secret bleeding test is performed. About 10 percent. people test positive and are sent for a colonoscopy. This is the group of people who are at risk of finding precancerous conditions or even cancer. Because people do not yet have symptoms, cancer is found at an earlier stage.

– Let’s take a closer look at the disease itself and at our gut. Professor, is colon cancer one of the most dangerous diseases we can get in your area?

– T. Poška: Any disease is dangerous, but colon and rectal cancer is dangerous in two ways: first, it is very common. Second, it is not curable in all cases. Unfortunately, not all patients can be cured. While for the most part we can help very effectively, the rest of the patients die from this disease.

– Who is more likely to develop this cancer? Is there a traditional patient by age and sex?

– T. Poška: cancer occurs in both men and women. It is true that we know that women are much more likely to be screened for colon cancer than men. By age, we see an increase in cases from the age of 60, a tumor that is rare in younger patients. Although in the world and in Lithuania we see that the disease is getting younger. It is very important that we can prevent this disease by checking. If polyps are found, a colonoscopy is performed, and the polyps are removed, a person can never get this cancer. As a result, we should not only see colon cancer death rates decline over time, we should also see lower morbidity rates.

– When we talk about cancer diseases, two main reasons are usually mentioned: heredity and our own way of life. How is this case?

– R. Jančiauskienė: Colon cancer is especially common in Western countries. At present, we can say that about 10-20%. cases are determined by genetic or family cases, at that time all others are called random. This development of cancer is particularly dependent on lifestyle. There has been a 40 year trend in the US when it is found that young people are much more likely to develop colon cancer. Those born in 1990 had a 4 times greater risk of developing the disease compared to those born in 1950. And this is a very clear illustration that our way of life is one of the main contributors to this disease. There is evidence that almost 50 percent. Colon cancer cases could be prevented by changing lifestyles: changing diet, increasing physical activity, and reducing stress.

– What diet, in terms of intestinal diseases, is more harmful to us?

– T. Poška: Nutrition is undoubtedly one of the most important risk factors, because everything we eat travels to the intestines and changes the composition of the bacteria that live there, it directly affects the intestines. We know that consuming red or processed and smoked meat products increases the risk of colon cancer. A protective factor could be a Mediterranean diet, whose regular consumption reduces the chances of developing colon cancer. Of course, fresh fruits and vegetables are one of the ingredients of the Mediterranean diet and are recommended.

– Can we avoid inheritance and reduce the risk of diseases by changing our diet?

– T. Poška: We could not completely avoid the risk of colon cancer simply by changing our diet and lifestyle. People who are at high risk of inheritance may, in some cases, even need preventive surgery to avoid getting sick. Of course, we must promote a healthy diet, but we must not forget that we have an effective monitoring tool, which is the colonoscopy. This is what the smallest changes look like.

– How fast is this cancer progressing? How long can it develop from initial to symptomatic stage?

– R. Jančiauskienė: This cancer develops slowly, so prevention programs can help a lot. It can take up to 10 years, sometimes even longer, from normal mucous membrane development to cancer. As a result, there is definitely time to detect changes and start treatment on time.

– What are the symptoms when you really need to see a doctor?

– R. Jančiauskienė: About half of the symptoms may be absent, it depends on the location of the tumor. If it is the left side of the colon or rectum, some of the above symptoms are blood on the surface of the stool, an involuntary desire to defecate, and a sensation of incomplete defecation. This is typical of rectal cancer. But if the cancer develops on the right side of the colon, there may be no symptoms for quite some time. Sometimes these patients first experience anemia because cancer is a wound from which a few milliliters of blood leak a day, with no other symptoms as if. There are also common symptoms that are more common in advanced disease: loss of appetite, weight loss, changes in bowel movements, diarrhea or constipation, bloating.

– When symptoms are already present, is the cancer likely to be in an advanced stage?

– R. Jančiauskienė: It has been established that the greater the anemia, the greater the probability of detecting a larger cancer, because a person has been bleeding for a longer time.

– What are the treatment options in the later stages?

– R. Jančiauskienė: The earlier the cancer, the greater the importance of surgical treatment. Suppose if we have the first stage, then there is a 90 percent chance of surgical removal. to recover. If the second stage – 70 percent. probability of recovery, third – 50 percent. If the stage is later, in addition to surgery, we use other methods, radiation, chemotherapy.