Introduction
Rectal carcinoma is the disease when malignant growths (tumors) have formed in the last section of the intestine. The last section of the colon is called the rectum. In this section there is no longer any absorption.
The stool is merely stored in this section and then leaves the body to be emptied through the anus. Rectal cancer preferentially forms in the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract and is therefore called adenocarcinoma. Colon cancer is much more common than cancer of the small intestine, and it is assumed that the reason for this is the significantly longer time the food remains in the colon.
Related to the colon cancer itself, rectal cancer is not diagnosed as frequently as tumors in other parts of the colon. As a rule, people beyond middle age are diagnosed with this disease. However, rectal cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in both men and women.
As with all other types of cancer of the intestinal tract, it is important to detect and treat the tumor as early as possible. Rectal cancer is caused by degenerated mucosal cells that grow uncontrolled and no longer die the normal death of cells. This leads to the proliferation of the tumor.
Why the cells degenerate cannot be determined 100%. There are, however, certain factors that favor this. Since this is an important part of the digestive tract, nutrition is not insignificant.
One should eat a healthy, balanced and fibre-rich diet, as the food pulp is located in the large intestine (the rectum is a part of the large intestine) for a very long time and this is where the greater damage (compared to the small intestine) often occurs. Pollutants from smoking are also believed to promote the development of rectal cancer, which is why smoke should be avoided completely. Diseases of the intestinal tract such as polyps and benign growths can also facilitate the development of a tumor.
Diseases such as Crohn’s disease, which are chronic and often affect the intestinal wall, are also risk factors. It should be added in any case, however, that people who do not have any risk factors can of course also develop rectal cancer. Throughout life, many mistakes occur in the renewal of the body’s own cells. Normally, the body has repair mechanisms that cancel and compensate for these mistakes. Nevertheless, defective cells remain in the body throughout life and can trigger tumor formation in due course.
