Colorectal cancer (colon)

Colon cancer (carcinoma) is one of the most common tumour diseases. A distinction is made between cancer of the large intestine (colon carcinoma) and rectum (rectal carcinoma).

Colorectal cancer symptoms

Any change in stool habits, such as diarrhoea alternating with constipation, is an alarm signal and must be clarified immediately. A classic symptom of bowel cancer is visible or hidden blood in the stool. The latter can be identified by a so-called haemoccult test . Other non-specific symptoms are bloating, fatigue, weight loss, night sweats, fever and anaemia (low haemoglobin value).

Diagnostics

At the University Department of Surgery in Salzburg, we ensure a painless diagnosis of colon cancer with the help of "gentle colonoscopy": premedication (short anaesthesia) means that patients hardly feel the colonoscopy.

To complement the examination, we carry out a computer tomography of the abdominal and thoracic cavity, as the colon carcinoma has very often already metastasised at the time of diagnosis. Special tumour markers in the blood are used to monitor the progress and determine the success of the therapy.

Treatment of colorectal cancer

The structure and organisation of our centre for surgery in Salzburg is specially adapted to the particularities of colorectal cancer, as well as to the needs of cancer patients and their relatives. If the carcinoma is detected at an early stage, patients can be cured through surgery by radically removing the tumour-bearing section of the intestine. Whenever possible, minimally invasive and robot-assisted procedures are used to perform the operation as gently as possible.

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