Nguyenv+Colon+Cancer

Colon Cancer Cancer – in general – is when there is an abnormal, out-of-control growth in cells, where they divide rapidly. Colon cancer, to be more specific, is when this happens in the large intestine. When cell growth regulations stop working, and a tumor begins to form in the first part of the large intestine, this is known as colon cancer.
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 * Inheritance: **

The disease is inherited if the person who has the cancer has a long family history of the disease. As sources say, the risk of having this disease is higher if a “relative has had the disease before age fifty”. In that case, the family may have one of two genetic conditions: FAP (familial adenomatous polyposis) or HNPCC (hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer). If either parent has one of these, their children run a fifty percent chance of having colon cancer since this gene is unfortunately dominant.

Symptoms on colon cancer affect the stomach and bowels. Some of the more common symptoms are diarrhea or constipation, “blood in the stool”, vomiting, bloating, cramps, and/or unexplained weight loss.
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 * Diagnosis: **

The disease is diagnosed when – if a patient is experiencing symptoms like the ones mentioned above – a doctor can screen them using one of many different types of tests. One of them is called Fecal Occult Blood Test – or FOBT – and is when a doctor takes a sample of the patient’s “stool” to check for microscopic blood dots often caused by colon cancer. Another is known as DNA Blood Test. In this type of test, the DNA of the patient’s stool sample is examined for genetic defects that can be traced to colon cancer. Although only two are listed, there are a total of five tests to diagnose this disease.

The disease is treated by the doctors first staging the disease to check how far along the cancer is. If the cancer hadn’t managed to spread to other tissues within the body, surgery and special chemicals can be used to treat the disease. Surgery is used to remove the polyps – or tumors – and/or cancerous parts. Special chemicals – such as chemotherapy or radiation – can rapidly kill all rapidly dividing cells in the body, including cancer cells.
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From what I gathered, not too much research is being conducted on colon cancer. However, one university in South Carolina is researching new ways to prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat the cancer. Researchers at the university have studies that suggest some drugs may be able to prevent the cancer, such as aspirin. Research on screening and diagnostics has a virtual colonoscopy idea going on whereas another is using genetic testing to check stool samples.
 * Research: **

People whose diets are high in fat, over fifty years of age, have polyps in the colon, or have a family history of colon cancer are more likely to get the cancer. Colon cancer is also the fourth most common cancer in both men and women in the United States. Additionally, those whose genes are affected by FAP can develop a plethora of polyps. However, those with HNPCC only develop a few.
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 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Punnett Square: **




 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pedigree Chart: **




 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Resources: **

<span style="color: black; font-family: Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">University of Utah: Learn Genetics <span style="color: black; font-family: Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">[|http://learn.genetics.utah.edu]

<span style="color: black; font-family: Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Diseases: Blood – Crohn’s Disease <span style="color: black; font-family: Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">By Bryan Bunch & Jenny Tesar

<span style="color: black; font-family: Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Encyclopedia of Family Health <span style="color: black; font-family: Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">By David B. Jacoby, MD