What tests can detect colon cancer early?
It is optimal to identify colon cancer early. To ensure good health, it is important to have a complete screening. For this purpose, there are various diagnostic techniques that help us to locate polyps, the main causes of colon cancer.
What are the risk factors for colon cancer?
The diagnosis should be made from the age of 50 onwards, both in men and women, even if there have been no symptoms previously. Age is an important factor, but the patient’s clinical history and family history must also be taken into account. People with direct family members who have had colon cancer are more likely to suffer from this cancer and should therefore be screened earlier.
What diagnostic tests will be used to detect possible colon cancer?
The most obvious symptom of colon cancer is anal bleeding. The most useful test and the one that works best is colonoscopy. It is the most effective because it allows the GI specialist to diagnose and remove polyps. This technique reduces the probability of colon cancer by 57%.
In addition to colonoscopy, there are other techniques. Two types of stool tests can be performed, one of them to detect occult blood, which is useful for population screening given its high sensitivity, but it is a non-specific test, and another more novel technique based on the study of the intestinal microbiota, which would be more precise than the previous one.
Genetic studies are also useful for detecting colon cancer. These studies are aimed at very specific patients: those who have not had any polyps but in their family there are people with this cancer. This type of study helps us to detect hereditary non-polypoid colorectal cancer and familial polyposis. These two anomalies are very rare and affect one in every 25,000 inhabitants.
Without leaving aside periodic check-ups, it is very important to take care of our lifestyle habits. The diet should be rich in fiber and varied. It is also necessary to abstain from alcoholic beverages.