Author: Pan Zhizhong (Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Hospital)
Colorectal cancer often occurs in middle-aged and elderly people, but with the gradual increase in the incidence of colorectal cancer, the incidence of colorectal cancer in young people is also on the rise.
Compared with middle-aged and elderly colorectal cancer, colorectal cancer in young adults also has its own characteristics:
One, obvious abdominal pain
Because the pain sensitivity of the elderly is reduced, the abdominal pain of middle-aged and elderly patients with colorectal cancer is often dull pain; while young people are sensitive to pain and often have severe abdominal pain.
Second, bloody stools
Blood is one of the common manifestations of colorectal cancer. Young and middle-aged patients with colorectal cancer are more likely to have bloody stools, even heavy bleeding or accompanied by anemia.
Third, poor tumor differentiation
Compared with the tumor types of middle-aged and elderly patients, the tumor types of colorectal cancer in young adults are often more poorly differentiated, and tumor cells have a strong ability to spread to surrounding tissues and metastasize to other organs .
As a result, young adults with colorectal cancer are more likely to spread and have a poorer prognosis.
Four, obvious family inheritance
Colorectal cancer has a certain familial inheritance, and patients with the disease in young adults often have more obvious familial inheritance characteristics.
V. High rate of misdiagnosis
When young adults have abdominal pain or bloody stool, they are often misdiagnosed as enteritis or hemorrhoids and other diseases. After the treatment effect is not obvious, the relevant examinations are completed and the final diagnosis is made.
Therefore, young adults with related symptoms, especially those with a family history, need to pay special attention to the possibility of colorectal cancer.
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