Complications and Risks of Colon Cancer

Colon cancer and its treatment each carry complications worth knowing - not to frighten, but because the early ones are warnings and the treatment ones are manageable.

Complications of the cancer itself

• Bowel obstruction: a large tumor blocks the colon - crampy pain, distension, no stool or gas. An emergency; sometimes needs urgent surgery or a stent
• Perforation: the tumor breaks through the wall - severe abdominal pain and fever; a surgical emergency
• Bleeding and anemia: chronic slow blood loss - weakness, breathlessness, pale look; often the first clue
• Spread: liver (jaundice, swelling), lungs (cough, breathlessness), peritoneum (ascites - a bloated, fluid-filled abdomen)
• Cancer cachexia: profound weight and muscle loss in advanced disease - a signal to intensify nutritional and medical support

Complications of treatment

• Surgery: infection, leak at the join (anastomotic leak - fever, pain, needs urgent attention), adhesions causing later obstruction, and stoma issues if one was made