Cancer Information

Home Common Types of Cancers Colorectal Cancer Symptoms & Staging Diagnosis & Treatment Signs and symptoms - colorectal cancer Altered bowel habits Diarrhea or constipation or alternating diarrhea and constipation, or feeling of incomplete evacuation of bowel. Blood in the stool Vomiting General abdominal discomfort like bloating, fullness, or abdominal pain and cramps) Weight loss with no known reason Constant tiredness These symptoms can also be caused by other conditions therefore it  is important to check with a doctor. Staging of Colorectal Cancer -  If the diagnosis is cancer, the doctor needs to learn the stage (or extent) of disease. Staging is a careful attempt to find out whether the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. TNM classification and AJCC staging - Primary tumor (T) TX: Primary tumor cannot be assessed T0: No evidence of primary tumor Tis: Carcinoma in situ: intraepithelial or invasion of the lamina propria T1: Tumor invades submucosa T2: Tumor invades muscularis propria T3: Tumor invades through the muscularis propria into the subserosa, or into nonperitonealized pericolic or perirectal tissues T4: Tumor directly invades other organs or structures, and/or perforates visceral peritoneum AJCC staging Regional lymph nodes (N) NX: Regional nodes cannot be assessed N0: No regional lymph node metastasis N1: Metastasis in 1 to 3 regional lymph nodes N2: Metastasis in 4 or more regional lymph nodes Distant metastasis (M) MX: Distant metastasis cannot be assessed M0: No distant metastasis M1: Distant metastasis         Stage 0 - Tis, N0, M0 Stage I - T1, N0, M0 ; T2, N0, M0 Stage IIA -T3, N0, M0 Stage IIB - T4, N0, M0   Stage IIIA - T1, N1, M0, T2, N1, M0 Stage IIIB - T3, N1, M0 ; T4, N1, M0 Stage IIIC -  Any T, N2, M0 Stage IV - Any T, Any N, M1