Colon Carcinoma

The treatment options for all types of cancer are determined by the stage of this deadly disease. In case of the colon cancer too the doctors first try to find out the colon carcinoma stage before they start their treatment. Staging is the method that is applied to find the impact of the cancer cells in the patient and how far they have affected the particular area.

How do the doctors find out the stages of colon carcinoma? Today, the best technique available to find out the stage of colon carcinoma is called TNM (Tumor, Node, Metastasis) staging system. According to this system there are five stages of colon cancer stage 0, stage I, stage II, stage III and stage IV.

Stage 0 is the state when the cancer cells have just developed. They are found in the innermost lining of the colon. This is also called carcinoma in situ. The abnormal cells which are found in the lining soon may develop in to deadly cancerous cells which would then regenerate very fast.

Stage I Colon Cancer refers to the situation when the cells have just begun to spread beyond the innermost lining of colon. They reach to the middle layer of colon and are called Duke A colon cancer. The first and second stages of colon cancer are very dangerous and they are completely curable.

The risk starts at stage II cancer. In this stage, the malignant cells spread more deep down the colon and rectum and there is a possibility that they might have intruded into other tissues already. They don't reach lymph nodes and hence there is less possibility of metastasis. This stage cancer is called Duke B colon cancer.

The stage III colon cancer refers to the condition when it has already spread to lymph nodes of the colon and the cells have not been carried to distant organs or adjoining organs. The third stage is called Duke C colon cancer.

The most deadly stage is the fourth one. In stage IV the cancer cells have already been carried by the lymph glands to distant parts of the body and this means that they might have settled in some areas and would grow there with normal cells. The organs which are most likely to experience metastasis from this Duke D cancer are liver and lungs.

All the above mentioned stages of colon cancer pose their own risks and threats. Although the initial ones are curable, the chances of aggravation always persist. Thus, the detection of the correct colon carcinoma stage is the first prerequisite for a workable cure. It helps the doctors analyze the exact condition of the patient and suggest a treatment accordingly.