Understanding Colon Carcinoma Stages

If someone is diagnosed with colon carcinoma, the concerned doctor would order more and more tests to find out if the cancer cells have spread to other body parts. This process is commonly done to recognize the colon carcinoma stage of a patient. In colon carcinoma, doctors can easily plan further treatment based on the stage of the disease. Lets discuss the stages.

Colon carcinoma has five stages.

First is stage 0. In this, the cancer prevails only in innermost lining of the colon. At this stage, doctors may suggest a surgery, either simple polypectomy or local or a bowel resection.

Then comes the second phase, known as Stage I. This happens when the cancer spreads beyond the innermost lining of the colon to the next layers (second or the third layer). With this, it involves the inside wall of colon. The outer wall does not appear affected at this stage. The stage sometime called as a Duke A colon carcinoma.

Next there is Stage II in which cancer spreads outside the colon, nearby tissues, but lymph nodes get not affected at this stage. Lymph nodes are bean-shaped and small structures found in body, their function is to produce and store cells which are fighting agents. This stage is also known as Duke B colon carcinoma.

Stage III colon carcinoma reaches the lymph nodes in the body, but do not affect the other body parts. Sometimes it is name as Duke C colon carcinoma.

In stage IV, the cancer spreads beyond the colon and affects other parts of the body. Same as the other stages, it is also known as Duke D colon carcinoma.

At the first stage, treatment is usually a surgery. This is to facilitate removal of a cancer in the body with joining of cut ends of the bowel can be done. Treatment for a second stage can be a surgery to remove the cancer or a chemotherapy that is a clinical trial, a biological therapy or a radiation therapy. In some cases if the tumor spreads, nearby tissues radiation therapy or a chemotherapy is recommended.

The third stage treatment carries a surgery to remove the cancer. It involves surgery to remove the cancer, surgery to remove the affected body parts like liver, lungs or ovaries. Radiation therapy, chemotherapy or a biological therapy are taken as a relief symptom at this stage.

There is also the single colon carcinoma stage, which happens when cancer occurs again in a body. At this stage, doctors prefer to remove the affected organ from the body itself. So be aware of the stages and dont miss your regular checkups!