Simple ways to prevent colorectal cancer

Eating red meat more than 5 times a week increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 3 times. Alcoholic beverages increase the risk of cancer if consumed more than 15g a day.

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers, leading to death, poor treatment outcomes and high costs when the disease is diagnosed at a late stage or has metastasized. The disease can be prevented through healthy eating habits. Identifying risk factors is very important to take active preventive measures.

Dr. Bui Chi Viet, Head of Department of Surgery 2, Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital, said that if genetic risk factors are excluded, most colorectal cancers are caused by lifestyle and eating habits.

There are many risk factors that people can prevent such as:

- Red meat (beef, lamb) is considered to be closely related to colorectal cancer. Eating about 160g/day or a diet with meat more than 5 times/week increases the risk 3 times. In the form of fried, grilled, smoked meat, ham, sausage, protein will increase carcinogenic factors, while fat will be metabolized by bacteria in the intestine, causing abnormal epithelial cell proliferation and developing into cancer.

Red meat is considered to be closely related to colorectal cancer. Photo: Le Phuong.

- Eating a lot of meat, fat, protein, and little fiber can easily lead to obesity and a high risk of colon cancer. Foods high in fiber (green vegetables, fruits) help reduce this risk because fiber increases folic acid consumption, increases the combination of fiber with carcinogenic factors, leading to early elimination from the intestine because it reduces the time of stool stagnation. In addition, fiber reduces the pH in the colon and increases the production of short-chain fatty acids and trace elements that fight oxidation.

-Alcoholic beverages increase the risk of colorectal cancer if consumed over 15 g per day.

- Cigarettes are known as the “killers” of cardiovascular disease and lung cancer. Recently, they have been recognized as very important risk factors for colorectal cancer in both sexes, especially when combined with alcohol.

- Obesity also increases the risk of colorectal cancer for both men and women, but more clearly in men. In men with a high BMI, the risk is 2 times higher, while in obese women, the risk is 1.5 times higher.

Physical activity, exercise or training will reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, on the basis of preventing obesity and also reducing the time of stagnation in the colon.

- However, there are also factors that cannot be controlled, such as age. More than half of cancers occur in older people. Nowadays, life expectancy is increasing, so we are always facing risk factors for colorectal cancer.

Symptoms of early detection of colon cancer

Common symptoms include lower gastrointestinal bleeding, changes in bowel habits, abdominal pain, weight loss, anorexia, fatigue, and especially intestinal obstruction.

Depending on the location of the tumor in the colon, there are specific symptoms. If it is on the right colon, the patient often has symptoms of diarrhea, accompanied by constipation. If it is on the left side, intestinal obstruction is a prominent symptom.

In rectal cancer, fresh blood in the stool and tenesmus are two prominent symptoms. Cancer in this location is easy to diagnose, but many patients come for treatment when the disease is in the late stages. The common reason is that patients think they have hemorrhoids or dysentery. Many doctors sometimes skip the examination, leading to the mistake of treating hemorrhoids, missing the opportunity to cure the disease.

How to screen for colon cancer?

In our country, colorectal cancer ranks fourth in both sexes. However, the mortality rate from the disease has gradually decreased since the 1980s. This is thanks to advances in screening, diagnosis, and early detection of colorectal polyps, which are removed before they turn into cancer. Also from these means, doctors can diagnose the disease at an earlier stage, contributing to curing the disease, bringing about extremely spectacular results, significantly improving the quality of life of patients.

In addition, obesity and tobacco use are also high risk factors. Researchers have identified factors to assess the risk of colorectal cancer, including age, gender, BMI, consumption of fresh vegetables, red meat, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and use of vitamins and trace elements. A score will then be calculated for each risk factor.

Colorectal cancer screening methods often start with simple, minimally invasive methods to more specialized methods such as fecal occult blood testing, sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, and double-contrast colonography, which are being applied at moderate costs but with high efficiency.

Stool testing has been shown to improve prognosis by detecting cancer at an early stage and potentially curable. Colonoscopy and colon x-rays clearly show the location of lesions or polyps and remove them endoscopically before they turn into real cancer. Currently, there are new methods such as stool DNA testing, virtual colonoscopy using software to reconstruct the entire image of the colon based on CT scan slices, or colonoscopy using a camera.

Notes to prevent colon cancer

- Do not eat too much meat or fat from animal protein.

- Supplement enough fiber from barley, fruits, fresh vegetables... These substances dilute carcinogens in stool, reduce the time stool stays in the intestines, and at the same time produce beneficial bacteria for the intestines.

- Supplement with vitamins E, C, and A. Take more calcium.

- Have an active lifestyle and exercise. A study showed that patients with stage III colon cancer who had surgery and practiced aerobic exercise regularly helped reduce the risk of recurrence.

According to VnExpress