MANILA, Philippines—It’s unfortunate that it took the diagnosis last month of former President Corazon “Cory” Aquino’s colon cancer to bring this type of cancer into the open.

But for the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Filipinos who have this condition, this new found attention may do for colon cancer what pink ribbons have done for breast cancer.

Even doctors are also hopeful that this ongoing publicity of a high-profile colon cancer patient will help more Filipinos tune into the widespread problem—and hopefully tune into their bodies so they can spot signs and symptoms early.

Colon cancer is regarded as the fourth most common cancer type worldwide, with about 1 million new cases diagnosed worldwide while killing more than 600,000 people every year.

High cure rate

But like some of the most common cancer types such as breast cancer and cervical cancer, colon cancer has a high cure rate when detected early and treated accordingly.

Cancer of the colon often starts as a polyp, a noncancerous growth that looks like a small mushroom attached to the inside surface of the colon.

If left untreated over several years, polyps may develop to cancer, which could grow rapidly, may spread to the lymph nodes near the colon, and eventually spread to distant organs, more often than not, to the liver.

No dramatic symptoms

Usually, colon cancer doesn’t exhibit any dramatic symptoms in the early stage.

By the time an individual excretes thin and often, bloody stools, experiences cramping and unexplained weight loss, the cancer may have already advanced to the next stage, and thus, more and more challenging to treat.

Fortunately there are tests that a doctor could perform to detect colon cancer while it is in its early stage—fecal occult blood test, proctosigmoidoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, barium study and colonoscopy.

These tests could be beneficial to otherwise heathy individuals who are 50 years old and above or younger adults with a family history of colon cancer.

More likely option

If cancer is confirmed or if it has already spread to the liver (with colorectal cancer, sometimes the disease spreads only to the liver), one of the more likely option is to administer chemotherapy before and after surgery (to remove liver tumors).

This will not only keep the disease in check. A recent study done in the United States, reported that early-stage colon cancer patients treated with Eloxatin-based chemotherapy after their tumor had been removed by surgery survived longer than patients who had been on traditional chemotherapy care alone.

Sanofi-Aventis, which manufactures Eloxatin, reported that Folfox4 (combination of Eloxatin, leucovorin and fluorouracil) significantly improved overall survival of patients with stage 3 or mid-stage colon cancer.

When treated with a combination of oxaliplatin and infusional 5-FU/LV these patients had a 20 percent higher probability of surviving after a median of six years than those who were on 5-FU/LV, the standard of care for colon cancer patients.

The follow-up study was on the so-called Mosaic clinical trial that involved 2,246 patients with early-stage or mid-stage colon cancer whose tumor had been completely surgically removed.