By then, surgery and chemotherapy could only keep him with us for another year. If my dad, Shelly, had had the colonoscopy that his physician discouraged, he would probably be alive today. This slow-growing cancer can take up to ten years to develop, which leaves a generously wide window of opportunity for screening. Each of the four tests is described in the following paragraphs. Better yet, the people who have had the tests share their experiences.
Colorectal cancer includes cancers of the colon, rectum, appendix, and anus.
When abnormal cell growth occurs, a tumor develops. If the cells of a tumor acquire the ability to invade and thus spread into the intestinal wall and to other sites, a malignant or cancerous tumor develops. Most colorectal cancers develop first as colorectal polyps, which are growths inside the colon or rectum that may later become cancerous. About a third of CRC cancers occur in the lower third of the colon. Some occur in the midsection and in the descending colon.