How to correctly distinguish between colitis and colon cancer? The article teaches you to distinguish from 4 aspects, let's take a look

The so-called colorectal cancer refers to cancerous changes in the colon and rectum. Although the incidence of colon cancer is slightly lower than that of rectal cancer , its mortality rate is relatively high.

　　The reason for this is that the symptoms of colon cancer are not typical, and most patients do not have obvious symptoms in the early stage . Even if symptoms appear gradually, patients often think that they just have colon inflammation, and then ignore cancer screening, so that most patients have entered an advanced stage when they are diagnosed.

　　So the question is, they are all diseases that appear on the colon. What is the difference between colitis and colon cancer?

1. Etiology

　　The appearance of colitis is related to various factors, including various pathogenic infections, intestinal ischemia, genetics, radiation damage, autoimmunity and so on. The cause of colon cancer is far more complicated than enteritis.

　　You know, the appearance of cancer is mainly due to the mutation of cell DNA . These mutated cells have the ability of immortality and infinite division and proliferation, so it can form cancer in the colon .

　　According to the current clinical data, the etiology of colon cancer has not been fully clarified. It is related to genetics, aging, repeated stimulation of chronic inflammation, adenomatous polyps, and poor living and eating habits . It is a disease caused by the combined action of multiple factors;

　　2. Differences in typical symptoms

　　Colitis is clinically divided into two categories: chronic and acute. Acute colitis is often manifested as sudden abdominal pain and diarrhea . In chronic colitis, mucus or pus and blood in the stool, malnutrition, fever or general malaise may occur , and the symptoms are relieved or disappeared after symptomatic treatment.

　　However, colon cancer is different. As the disease progresses, colon cancer will not only have gastrointestinal symptoms, but also be accompanied by multiple symptoms of cachexia, such as gradual weight loss, deepening pain, anemia and fatigue .

　　In advanced colon cancer, there will also be unbearable abdominal pain, repeated bloody stools and other manifestations. And after the patient takes medication, the condition is often difficult to control, and the pain level will become deeper and deeper;

　　3. Diagnosis

　　The diagnosis of colitis mainly includes routine stool examination, abdominal X-ray examination and colonoscopy screening . The diagnosis of colon cancer mainly relies on colonoscopy screening, nuclear magnetic resonance examination and CT examination, tumor markers and fecal occult blood test .

　　But this is just the discovery of foreign bodies in the intestine through imaging, or the discovery of bowel cancer-related symptoms. To diagnose colon cancer, a pathological biopsy is also required, which is the gold standard for diagnosing cancer;

4. Treatment

　　Treatment of colitis is mainly through the use anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics, or fecal microbial transplantation . However, the treatment of colon cancer is much more complicated, including conventional surgical treatment, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy and so on.

　　Usually, the prognosis of colitis is ideal, but the prognosis of colon cancer has too many uncertain factors , and the prognosis of clinical colon cancer in China is generally poor.

　　Finally, I would like to remind everyone that both colitis and colon cancer are diseases that require active treatment.

　　If symptoms such as changes in bowel habits, blood in the stool, abdominal pain, etc. suddenly appear recently, patients should be vigilant, seek medical attention in time for targeted intestinal examinations, and start relevant treatment after confirming the cause, so as not to miss the best time for diagnosis and treatment of the disease.