Pencil Thin Early Stage Colon Cancer Stool Pictures
Colon cancer may begin to show symptoms and signs as the cancer grows and expands for example blood in the stool bowel habit changes abdominal pain and fatigue.
Pencil thin early stage colon cancer stool pictures. Doctors used to link narrow bms to colorectal or colon cancer. Thin or narrow stools often described as ribbon or pencil like may also be a sign of colon cancer. Change in stool shape. Cancer of the colon and rectum can exhibit itself in several ways.
More than 90 of cases. Brian lacy md of dartmouth hitchcock med center. One of the first ways to screen for the disease is to check your stools. If you have any of these symptoms seek immediate medical help.
Let s take a closer look at how pencil shaped stools from irritable bowel syndrome might appear different from flattened narrow bowel movements caused by colon cancer. Colon cancer affects both men and women and all racial and ethnic groups. Persistent pencil thin stool which may be solid or loose is one of the symptoms of colorectal polyps or cancer. A number of factors can determine bowel movement caliber shape texture color etc says whitney jones md clinical professor of medicine university of louisville and founder colon cancer prevention project.
There are four stages of colon cancer. Thin poo may be a warning sign of. Patients are often concerned about the frequency shape and texture of their bowel movements explains dr. Colorectal cancer also called colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the u s.
Cancer screening tests for colon cancer thus are important in individuals 50 and older. This includes colorectal cancer and anal cancer. Bowel cancer symptoms may not make patients feel ill as the signs can be very subtle. Cancer is another possible causes of pencil thin stools due to narrowing.
In an otherwise healthy person thin stools may be caused by a narrowing of the colon also called a partial blockage of the colon due to colon cancer. How to recognize colon cancer symptoms. Changes in appetite weight loss anorectal bleeding and pain are some of the symptoms that may be present but often there are no symptoms in the early stages. Colon cancer is a type of cancer that originates in the cells lining the large intestine.
As the size of the polyp or cancer increases it can decrease the internal diameter of the colon or rectum so that only thin stool can pass through. If you have stool that s suddenly stringy or poop that gets pencil thin over time does it mean you have cancer.