Colorectal cancer is an equal opportunity disease, affecting both men and women.
The death rate from colorectal cancer in Rhode Island is significantly higher than in the rest of the country. This is a disease that early detection can all but eliminate the need for extensive surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Certainly early detection can essentially remove the threat of death. Almost all colorectal cancers start with a very small non-malignant outgrowth of the bowel wall called a polyp . This polyp grows slowly before it transforms into a cancer and invades the bowel wall and, if it remains undetected, will grow deeper and then spread to the lymph nodes, the liver, and the rest of the body.