Colon Cancer And Bladder Problems

Sore Skin In The Treatment Area

Your skin may be sore on the inside and outside of your genitals and the area around your bottom . It can help to use a moisturiser on the outside everyday.

While you are having radiotherapy, do not:

• use hair removal cream.

If you want to use these products, wait until radiotherapy has finished and your skin is no longer red or sore.

Be extra careful to protect the skin in the area where youve had radiotherapy for at least the first year afterwards. Dont use sunbeds and use high factor sunscreen if part or all of the area will be exposed for example, if you are wearing a bikini.

This sore skin may also cause pain when you wee. Let your healthcare team know about your symptoms as soon as possible, so they can help.

Patient And Public Involvement

As this was a register based study, we did not involve patients or members of the public in the study design, interpretation of results, or development of the dissemination strategy. Although no patients or members of the public were directly involved owing to the methodological design of our study, we did ask a member of the public to read our manuscript before submission.

How Is Colorectal Cancer Diagnosed

Colorectal cancer can be diagnosed by a variety of tests. This condition can be diagnosed after you show symptoms or if your caregiver finds something during a screening test that is not normal.

During the diagnosis process, your doctor may do the following tests:

Routine screening tests are done before you show any symptoms. These tests are detailed above.

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When To See A Healthcare Provider

While many people have heard that having blood in their stools may be a sign of colon cancer, just about any change in your bowel habits is worth evaluating. While you may be anxious about the possibility of having colon cancer, early diagnosis offers you the best opportunity for successful treatment. In many cases, something else entirely is going onsomething less serious than cancer.

Colon Cancer Healthcare Provider Discussion Guide

Get our printable guide for your next healthcare provider’s appointment to help you ask the right questions.

Symptoms Of Advanced Bowel Cancer

Advanced bowel cancer is cancer that started in either the back passage or large bowel and has spread to another part of the body.

The symptoms of advanced bowel cancer can include the symptoms for bowel cancer that hasn’t spread. Other symptoms depend on which part of the body the cancer has spread to.

• Read about bowel cancer symptoms

It might not mean that you have advanced cancer if you have the symptoms described below. They can be caused by other conditions.

General symptoms of advanced bowel cancer can include:

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What Chemotherapy Agents Are Used To Treat Colorectal Cancer

5-Fluorouracil, or 5-FU , has been the first-line chemotherapy drug, along with the vitamin leucovorin, for advanced colorectal cancers for many years. 5-FU is often given intravenously but is also available in an oral form as capecitabine .

Two other intravenous chemotherapy drugs irinotecan and oxaliplatin also are used for the treatment of advanced colorectal cancers. Oxaliplatin is given, along with 5-FU and leucovorin, for advanced colorectal cancers, while irinotecan is used alone or in combination with 5-FU/leucovorin for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer .

Newer treatments for metastatic colorectal cancer include monoclonal antibodies and immunotherapy.

Monoclonal antibodies are created in a lab to find and destroy a particular target in this case, colorectal cancer cells. Because of their precision, the idea is that treating a tumor with a monoclonal antibody will be more specific than chemotherapy drugs, and therefore have fewer side effects.

An Assessment Is Done To Help Plan Treatment

The assessment includes a physical exam and questions about the patientâs usual bowel movements and how they have changed.

The following tests and procedures may be done to help find the cause of the constipation:

There is no normal number of bowel movements for a cancer patient. Each person is different. You will be asked about bowel routines, food, andmedicines:

• How often do you have a bowel movement? When and how much?
• When was your last bowel movement? What was it like ?
• Was there any blood in your stool?
• Has your stomach hurt or have you had any cramps, nausea, vomiting, gas, or feeling of fullness near the rectum?
• Do you use laxatives or enemas regularly?
• What do you usually do to relieve constipation? Does this usually work?
• What kind of food do you eat?
• How much and what type of fluids do you drink each day?
• What medicines are you taking? How much and how often?
• Is this constipation a recent change in your normal habits?
• How many times a day do you pass gas?

For patients who have colostomies, care of the colostomy will be discussed.

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How Does The Doctor Know If Its Cancer

If you have symptoms that might be caused by colorectal cancer or if a screening test shows something not normal, your doctor will want to do more testing to find the cause.

Your doctor will ask about your medical history to learn about possible risk factors, including check for symptoms and. It’s important to know your family history. You will also be asked if youre having any symptoms and, if so, when they started and how long youve had them.

You might be able to have a virtual visit to talk with your doctor about symptoms or risk factors that might be worrying you. But, depending on your symptoms, your doctor might want you to schedule an in-person visit so you can be examined. As part of a physical exam, your doctor will carefully feel your abdomen for masses or enlarged organs, and also examine the rest of your body. You may also have a digital rectal exam . During this test, the doctor inserts a lubricated, gloved finger into your rectum to feel for any abnormal areas.

Your doctor may also want you to get more tests such as:

Other tests, such as MRI scans, x-rays and blood tests may also be done to look at how big the cancer is and whether it has spread.

What Could Have Caused Her Incontinence Problems

Urinary incontinence after rectal cancer treatment may consist of urge, overflow, and/or stress incontinence. Urge incontinence may result from a reduced bladder capacity due to surgical disruption of the sympathetic nerve supply . Overflow incontinence may be caused by surgical damage to the sacral splanchnic nerves, resulting in bladder emptying problems . However, the present patient suffered from involuntary urine loss during increased abdominal pressure, which is a sign of urinary stress incontinence. Stress urinary incontinence may result from impaired support to the urethra and bladder neck. This support is regulated by surrounding structures, the most important being the pubourethral-vesical ligaments, the suburethral vaginal wall, the levator plate, the pubococcygeus muscles, and the connective tissue. These components can compensate for each other in case of inappropriate function. In post-menopausal female patients, many of these structures are impaired because their function is influenced by oestrogen receptors. Additional changed anatomical relations between bladder, urethra, and pelvic floor, and possibly damage to the innervation of the levator ani muscles during LAR, would further impair the continence mechanism and lead to urinary incontinence .

Yellow: hypogastric nerves green: pelvic splanchnic nerves red: pelvic plexus blue: levator ani nerve. Adapted from: Lange JF Surgical anatomy of the abdomen. Maarssen : Elsevier. p. 178.

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Are You Fat Or Just Bloated Difference Between Weight Gain And Bloating

Typically, belly fat is considered the first sign of weight gain. However, a swollen abdomen or belly can often result from bloating and not necessarily fat deposition. Here are a few differences between them to identify whether you are fat or bloated.

In some cases, stomach bloating can also be due to the consumption of excess salt, leading to water retention. You may even notice bloating right before your periods as the body retains water or due to constipation. How do you know if the weight gain is due to water retention? Lets find out.

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What Will Happen After Treatment

Youll be glad when treatment is over. But its hard not to worry about cancer coming back. Even when cancer never comes back, people still worry about it. For years after treatment ends, you will see your cancer doctor. Be sure to go to all of these follow-up visits. You will have exams, blood tests, and maybe other tests, like a colonoscopy or imaging tests, to see if the cancer has come back.

At first, your visits may be every 3 to 6 months. Then, the longer youre cancer-free, the less often the visits are needed.

Having cancer and dealing with treatment can be hard, but it can also be a time to look at your life in new ways. You might be thinking about how to improve your health. Call us at 1-800-227-2345 or talk to your cancer care team to find out what you can do to feel better.

You cant change the fact that you have cancer. What you can change is how you live the rest of your life making healthy choices and feeling as well as you can.

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What Are The Main Symptoms Of Bowel Cancer

Two of the main symptoms of bowel cancer can be alarming and uncomfortable. The first is bleeding, and the second is bloating and constipation.

The bloating and constipation can make it impossible to eat, and so you begin to lose weight. It may be that a tumour has blocked the bowel, known as a bowel obstruction. With this blockage comes sudden and strong pains, a bloated feeling and nausea. You may also vomit. When such obstructions occur, you will likely be sent by your GP to the hospital.

Bleeding, especially if the blood is dark red or black, can be distressing and should be taken seriously. Bright red blood still needs to be checked by a doctor but maybe a result of swollen blood vessels in the rectum, known as haemorrhoids. However, the darker blood is likely coming from your bowel or stomach. Your GP will want to find the cause with some urgency.

Any changes in toilet habit, extreme fatigue and sudden weight loss should also signal a concern. Although these are more generic symptoms, they are an early indicator of problems, and you need to see a GP. Even if all you are saying is that you dont feel right, trust your instincts and get a check-up.

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Can Colon Cancer Affect The Bladder

At advanced stages, colon cancer can spread and affect other organs. The cancerous cells can break away from the primary tumor and travel through bloodstream and lymphatic system. Bladder itself is not too far from bowel. Does it mean that colon cancer can affect the bladder, too?

Understanding your bladder in general

Bladder is important organ, a muscular sac in your pelvis, to help temporarily store urine, allowing your urination to be infrequent & voluntary. It has normal capacity of about 400 600 ml. And when empty, it is about the shape and size of a pear.

The body starts producing urine in the kidneys. Then urine travels down to the bladder through tubes called ureters . And in the bladder, urine is temporarily stored, as noted before. When it is full or almost full, you will have an urge to urinate.

During urination, the muscles in the bladder contract and the valves open to push and allow urine flow out! Then urethra carries urine out of the body when you pee . Urethra is shorter in women than in men .

If there something goes awry with your bladder, it can affect the way of your body in passing urine. And it can be affected by cancer, too either primary bladder cancer or secondary bladder cancer .

So, does colon cancer affect or even spread to the bladder?

Bladder cancer is quite common. It is 5th most commonly diagnosed malignancy. The good news, it is often diagnosed at early stage, when the disease is mostly likely to be treated and cured.

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Is Bowel Cancer Hereditary

If you develop bowel cancer before the age of 50, there is a chance you have Lynch syndrome. The medical name for Lynch syndrome is hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer . It is thought this is a result of several potential inherited gene mutations. Alternatively, if there are a cluster of cases of bowel cancer in a family if could be a condition called familial adenomatous polyposis .

However, hereditary bowel cancers are relatively uncommon. The NHS note that these two inherited conditions are considered rare.

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Is Blood In Stool A Sign Of Colon Cancer

While many people have heard that having blood in their stools may be a sign of colon cancer, just about any change in your bowel habits is worth evaluating. While you may be anxious about the possibility of having colon cancer, early diagnosis offers you the best opportunity for successful treatment.

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Constipation With Bladder Cancer Can Be Horrendous

I mean that literally. Any number of things can cause it: stress, medications, lack of water, or even a poor diet. The hardest part is that we already have pain and spasms from our bladder cancer, and now on top of this, we are adding intestinal pain, constant heaviness, cramping, nausea, and so much more.

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Setting Data Sources And Study Population

We conducted a nationwide cohort study in Denmark, which had 5.8 million residents in 2018.10 In the Danish national health service all residents have free access to general practitioners and hospitals and are partially reimbursed for prescribed drugs.11 At birth or immigration, Danish residents are assigned a unique social security number, which allows accurate linkage between Danish medical databases and public registries.12

The Danish National Patient Registry contains data on all admissions to Danish hospitals since 1977 as well as data on visits to emergency departments and outpatient clinics since 1995.13 Outpatient visits include visits to hospital based specialty clinics. The registry does not capture visits to private practice specialists or general practitioners. Each hospital admission or outpatient visit is linked to one primary diagnosis and, when relevant, to several secondary diagnoses. Diagnoses in the Danish National Patient Registry are classified according to ICD-8 until the end of 1993, and then to the ICD-10 .13 See supplementary table 1 for the codes used in our study.

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Symptoms Of Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer may not cause any signs or symptoms in its early stages because the cancer is very small. Symptoms often appear once a tumour grows into surrounding tissues and organs. Other health conditions can cause the same symptoms as colorectal cancer.

See your doctor if you have these signs or symptoms:

• stool that looks narrower than usual
• feeling like the rectum is not completely empty after a bowel movement
• bright or very dark red blood in the stool
• bleeding from the rectum
• gas, abdominal cramps and feeling bloated
• pain or discomfort in the rectum
• a lump in the abdomen or rectum
• fatigue and weakness
• , which can cause fatigue and shortness of breath
• nausea and vomiting
• a blockage in the intestine
• swollen lymph nodes
• a buildup of fluid in the abdomen
• pain in the abdomen, back, buttocks or legs
• breathing problems

Can Radiation Help Bladder Cancer

Radiation treatment for bladder cancer can be used: To treat early-stage cancer after surgery. As the main treatment for early-stage cancer if you cant have surgery. As part of the treatment for advanced bladder cancer. Radiation is often given along with chemo. Certain chemo drugs can help the radiation work better.

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Living With Advanced Cancer

Advanced cancer usually means cancer that is unlikely to be cured. Some people can live for many months or years with advanced cancer. During this time palliative care services can help.

Most people continue to have treatment for advanced cancer as part of palliative care, as it helps manage the cancer and improve their day-to-day lives.

Many people think that palliative care is for people who are dying but palliative care is for any stage of advanced cancer. There are doctors, nurses and other people who specialise in palliative care.

may include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery or another type of treatment. It can help in these ways:

• slow down how fast the cancer is growing
• shrink the cancer
• help you to live more comfortably by managing symptoms, like pain.

Treatment depends on:

• how far it has spread
• your general health

Following this advice doesnt mean that you will never get bowel cancer, but it can reduce your risk and has other health benefits too.

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How Do You Know If You Have Colon Cancer

Signs and symptoms of colon cancer include: A persistent change in your bowel habits, including diarrhea or constipation or a change in the consistency of your stool. Rectal bleeding or blood in your stool. Persistent abdominal discomfort, such as cramps, gas or pain. A feeling that your bowel doesnt empty completely.

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