Ac­cord­ing to the Na­tion­al Can­cer In­sti­tute colon can­cer is the third most com­mon can­cer in men. The ma­jor­i­ty of colon can­cer cas­es arise from ade­no­ma­tous polyps-clus­ters of ab­nor­mal cells in the glands cov­er­ing the in­ner wall of the colon.

Over time these ab­nor­mal growths en­large and ul­ti­mate­ly de­gen­er­ate to be­come ade­no­cari­ci­no­mas tu­mours.

Symp­toms of colon can­cer in­clude:

Rec­tal bleed­ing

Un­ex­plained weight loss

Change in fre­quen­cy or char­ac­ter of stool

Un­ex­plained, per­sis­tent nau­sea or vom­it­ing

Sen­sa­tion of in­com­plete evac­u­a­tion af­ter a bow­el move­ment

Treat­ments for colon can­cer may vary de­pend­ing on how ad­vanced the can­cer is. The pri­ma­ry treat­ment for colon can­cer is to sur­gi­cal­ly re­move part or all of the colon. Oth­er treat­ments in­clude chemother­a­py and ra­di­a­tion. The sur­vival rate for those with colon can­cer de­pends on how ad­vanced the can­cer is and whether or not it has spread to near­by or­gans.