He colon cancer It is the most common tumor in the general population of Spain, only behind those specific to sex. In 2023, they were diagnosed 40,203 new cases of colorectal cancer. Of them, 24,385 were detected in men – only behind prostate cancer – and 15,818 in women after breast cancer – only surpassed by breast cancer.
The other side of the coin, according to the Spanish Digestive System Foundation, lies in the cure rate, which reaches 90% of cases if detected early. Taking into account that the probability of survival can be multiplied by six with early detection, knowing the gastrointestinal symptoms that can reveal the presence of this tumor is essential.
However, and despite their high incidence, these signs generally go very unnoticed at a social level in Spain, contrasting with awareness for the prevention of other types of cancer. The problem is similar in other developed societies, where it is one of the main causes of death related to this disease. In addition, oncologists have sounded the alarm when they encounter increasingly younger patients.
This is the warning issued by the oncologist Waqqas Taia colorectal cancer specialist in Brooklyn, New York. According to the doctor, in the United States they are diagnosed 150,000 cases annually of tumors colon and rectum. “Please go to your primary care doctor and have them perform a routine colonoscopy“, appeals. “They are very easy to do and can save your life.” In addition, it provides the five signs that we must pay attention to in our daily lives.
1) Thin stools: If our bowel movements are “thin as a brush,” in Tai’s words, this is a “worrisome symptom.” It could mean that there is a tumor in or near the rectum, occluding transit and putting pressure so that the stool takes on that appearance.
2) Blood in stool: “That’s never a good sign,” Tai ditches. “You can’t just blame it on a hemorrhoid, you have to go to the doctor.” There are multiple reasons that can induce colorectal bleeding in addition to the presence of a tumor, and they range from a fissure or a polyp to an inflammatory disease such as Crohn’s. In any case, it requires immediate medical evaluation.
3) Anemia: Lack of iron in the blood can occur again for multiple reasons, but this symptomatology accompanies between 30 and 75% of colorectal cancers, warns the specialist. “It is the first thing we look for to make the diagnosis. A healthy man does not have to have anemia, and neither does a woman unless she has abundant menstruations,” he reasons.
4) Severe constipation and diarrhea: Although both can occur due to other diseases or even changes in lifestyle and consumption habits, the fact of alternating between one and the other is an indication of an intestinal disorder. Therefore, it is essential to have a colonoscopy to rule out the presence of a tumor, warns the expert.
5) Thinness, fever and night sweats: These are non-specific symptoms but, added to the others on the list, they indicate quite clearly the presence of a tumor. “We call them ‘B symptoms,'” Tai reveals. “If you are eating but you keep losing weight, if you have random spikes in fever during the day, if you wake up at night drenched in sweat, these are all clear signs of possible cancer.”
