Few diseases cause such strong fear in the population as cancer. And no wonder, because this disease is fatal, and the treatment is very expensive. In recent years, science and medicine have advanced in development, inventing new drugs and methods to fight cancer, but an oncological diagnosis still sounds like a death sentence. The worst thing is that no one is immune from this disease.
A special place among cancers in women is occupied by tumors in the digestive tract. Including bowel cancer, the first symptoms of which practically do not manifest themselves. How does this disease begin, and what precedes the onset of a tumor? What do doctors say, and how dangerous is it? Let's find out.
The nature of cancer
Our body consists of an innumerable number of microscopic cells that perform certain functions. Normally, cells divide, live and die, and new ones develop in their place. For example, the lining of the stomach is renewed every 4 days, which is a completely normal process.
Sometimes it happens that under the influence of certain factors, some cells begin to divide withunusual speed, as a result of which the body loses control over them and ceases to recognize them. There is no fight against them as such.
But the worst thing is that these newly formed cells do not die, as it should be, but continue to live and multiply further. This is the nature of the occurrence of tumors that oncology studies.
Small bowel cancer
When cancer of the small intestine affects the glandular tissue of the intestine, its mucous membrane. So there is a tumor, which eventually grows and penetrates into neighboring organs. Alas, bowel cancer, the symptoms and manifestation of which are visible only at stages 3-4, is very dangerous for the body, and it is not easy to notice it at the beginning of the disease.
According to statistics, small bowel cancer is extremely rare. Against the background of other cancers, this disease affects no more than 2% of cancer patients. 80% of small intestine cancer occurs in the elderly, but the remaining 20% for young people is too much.
This type of cancer is extremely rare in women. This disease is most common in older men, whose age has already crossed the 60-year mark. The reasons for this phenomenon remain unclear, perhaps here it lies in the structural features of the female body.
Types of neoplasms in the small intestine
Small bowel cancer can occur as:
● adenocarcinoma;
● sarcomas;
● carcinoid;
● lymphomas.
The most common cancer of the small intestine, the symptoms of whichappear only after a certain time, it can occur in the form of adenocarcinoma, which is a lesion of the glandular tissue of the intestine. Carcenoid is very rare, accounting for about 3% of cancers.
Most often this disease affects people in developing Asian countries. In highly developed countries, bowel cancer is much less common in women - statistics say that such cases are observed only among the elderly.
Symptoms of bowel cancer
Cancer is a rather insidious disease, so at the initial stages it practically does not manifest itself. Up to a year, the patient may not feel any changes in the body at all. Symptoms begin to appear when the tumor has spread to neighboring organs. The symptoms of bowel cancer in women are:
• Bowel problems such as bloating, blockage, abdominal pain and loose stools.
• Unreasonable weight loss. If you have bowel cancer, the first symptoms may appear in strange weight loss.
• Yellowing of proteins and skin.
• Reduced appetite.
• Bleeding in the intestine, which is quite rare, with sarcoma.
These symptoms indicate that you should immediately visit a doctor and pass all the necessary tests. Symptoms of bowel cancer in women in the early stages are manifested by a low content of hemoglobin in the blood and impaired liver function. However, these signs are only foundas a result of tests.
Stages of small intestine cancer
Cancer, in principle, is a long and complex process that goes through several stages of development. Each stage has its own characteristics. There are 4 of them in total.
1 stage. This is the initial stage of the disease, which lasts quite a long time. Over a period of about 5 years, the tumor grows up to 2 cm in diameter and has not yet spread to the lymph nodes and nearby organs.
2 stage. The tumor is larger than 2 cm and has spread to one lymph node. At this stage, small intestine cancer is just emerging, its symptoms are not yet fully manifested.
3 stage. It is characterized by a large formation in the intestine and metastases in the lymph nodes. At this stage, the cancer becomes very dangerous, and it becomes difficult to cure the patient.
4 stage. The tumor has spread to neighboring organs and has a large number of metastases. Malignant cells divide at a frantic pace, the disease itself progresses.
The danger lies in the fact that in the first two stages a person in no way feels changes in his he alth. Cancer in such cases can only be diagnosed during surgery or by X-ray.
Causes of small bowel cancer
The causes that provoke the disease include:
• alcohol abuse and smoking;
• frequent consumption of carcinogenic foods;
• chronic inflammatory bowel disease;
• ulcerative colitis;
•Crohn's disease;
• celiac disease;
• radiation;
• Peutz-Jeghers syndrome;
• pathological processes associated with the production of enzymes of the gastrointestinal tract;
• genetic disorders;
• Metastases in the small intestine.
At risk are people who have previously had cancer, people who are genetically predisposed to cancer, and, as already noted, the elderly.
Cancer diagnosis
Diagnosis is carried out using various methods using special equipment. Symptoms of bowel cancer in women in the initial stages can be manifested by pale skin caused by low hemoglobin. The tumor itself can only be detected by ultrasound. Tests may show a slight abnormality in the white blood cell count.
At later stages, a cancerous tumor can be detected by palpation. It is characterized by a tuberous shape, it can also take the form of a flat ulcer or a cup-shaped form. As a rule, the method of palpation detects cancer, which is at the 3rd stage. At the 4th stage, you can see bowel cancer with the naked eye, the symptoms and manifestation of which are literally striking to an experienced doctor.
To diagnose small bowel cancer use:
• computed tomography;
• magnetic resonance;
• fibrogastroscopy;
• vascular angiography;
• laparoscopy;
• radiology;
•biopsy;
• colonoscopy.
All of these methods are used to diagnose cancer in the small intestine. However, sometimes it is enough for doctors to apply only some of them in order to fully see and evaluate the tumor in the abdominal cavity.
Small bowel cancer treatment
The most popular and effective method of fighting cancer is still considered surgery. In the early stages, surgery successfully fights the disease, and the survival rate is very high.
In the later stages, in addition to surgery, chemotherapy is also needed, which consists in introducing various drugs into the patient's body through injections or droppers. Chemotherapy inhibits the growth of cells and fights their reproduction.
Sometimes, radiation therapy is also used, which can directly affect the site of a cancerous tumor. The peculiarity of the method is that radioactive radiation, if it does not kill malignant cells, then has the most negative effect on them.
These two methods have a lot of side effects that negatively affect patients. Nevertheless, they have the right to exist and are widely used in modern medicine.
Recently, folk remedies to fight cancer have been widely advertised. You should know that this is pure fraud and taking some herbs, you will only waste your time. Cancer must be fought through official medicine. Only way will youconfident in the correct treatment.
Unfortunately, the symptoms of bowel cancer in women are very unpredictable, however, as noted earlier, the most common and early sign of the disease is pale skin. Therefore, even with such a slight ailment, you should immediately go to the doctor. Remember that it is much easier to detect and treat cancer in the early stages than after the disease has progressed to the point of no return.
