What Is A Colon Cancer Prognosis?
Prognosis refers to the predictable or probable outcome or course that a disease will follow. Prognosis is understood as a percentage of the number of people who will survive the disease in a span of five to ten years. Predicting the cancer prognosis is difficult and is inexact. This happens because the people who are suffering from colon cancer are in different stages of the disease. Dividing the prognosis into stages often makes the prediction inaccurate and quite flawed. However, as of now this is the only method available to determine the course of colon cancer. The prognosis for cancer patients is always a general description and cannot determine a specific outcome for an individual. These limitations must be kept in mind while predicting the course of the disease. Many things are taken into account while determining the prognosis for colon cancer. The survival rate is a function of the stage of cancer the patient is currently in along with the health and overall status of the person. Survival that can only be attributed to the tumor and not other disease gives the following prognosis. If a patient is in Stage 1 of the disease. The chance of survival is 90%. If the person is in Stage 2 of the disease, the chance of survival is 80%. If the person is in Stage 3 of the disease, the chance of survival is 65%. If the person is in Stage 4 of the disease, the chance of survival is only 10%. It is possible to cure colon cancer if it is removed in the earlier stages before it spreads outside the colon. The main treatment method for colon cancer is surgery which cures about 70% of the cases. If the cancer has gone deep inside the walls, chemotherapy is usually helpful in lengthening the survival time and killing cancerous growths. However, the effects are modest. In cases of rectal cancer that has spread into the walls of the rectum, radiation therapy helps to lengthen the survival time and reduces the risk of the cancer returning. In the later stages of colon cancer, when the disease spreads to other organs of the body, surgery cannot alone cure the cancer. Survival time is usually 7 months and may vary depending on person to person. Surgery at this stage is performed only to relieve pain, but it does not have very positive effects. Chemotherapy is also given as a part of the treatment but it doesn’t have much effect on how long the person will survive. The prognosis of colon cancer widely varies and completely depends on what stage of cancer you are in. It also depends on what kind of a lifestyle you lead and your health. In order to improve the prognosis it is important to follow a healthy lifestyle and go for regular screenings for colon cancer. |
