Bowel Cancer Flashcards
Describe the different stages of colon cancer
Stage 0 - Carcinoma in situ
Stage 1 - Invasion of the muscularis mucosa or into the muscularis externa (T1 and T2)
Stage 2 - Invasion beyond the muscularis externa or into adjacent organs (T3 and T4)
Stage 3 - T1-4 plus N1-2
Stage 4 - Stage 3 plus distant metastasis
How might colon cancer present?
Fe deficiency anaemia
Weight loss
Rectal bleeding
Bowel obstruction
Change in bowel habits
Abdominal pain
What does obstipated mean?
Not passing gas
What is the gene in FAP?
APC (adenomatous polyposis coli)
Which chemotherapy drugs can cause mucositis?
Fluorouracil
Capecitabine
Why do people with colon cancer perforate?
Bowel obstruction
Ulceration of the cancer
How many polyps do you require for the diagnosis of FAP?
>100
What are the three most common locations for a colon cancer to met to? How do you investigate for them?
LNs
Liver
Lungs
CT CAP with contrasts
How does the staging of rectal cancer differ from colon?
They can be down staged due to the use of neoadjuvant radiotherapy as the cancer location is fixed
What does the APC gene control?
Beta-catenin desmosomes
When is surgery indicated?
Stages I-III
What is the typical chemotherapy regimen for colon cancer?
Folinic acid
5FU
Oxaliplatin
What is Lynch syndrome/HNPCC? What is the most important defects? What other cancers does predispose people to?
Hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer
Causes a fault in DNA mismatch repair resulting in microsatellite instability
Endometrial, bladder, small bowel carcinomas
What is HNPCC?
Hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer syndrome
AKA Lynch syndrome
What is the T staging for colon cancer?
T1 - Lamina propria
T2 - Into the muscularis externa
T3 - Breaches the muscularis externa
T4 - Invaded surrounding viscera