European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

COLORECTAL CANCER: AN OVERVIEW

Priti Yadav*, Amit K. Srivastava, Amresh Gupta, Neelam Verma and Pritt Verma

ABSTRACT

Colorectal cancer had a low incidence several decades ago. The treatment of cancer began at the 20th century by developing prescript to screening of chemicals using transplantable tumors in rodents. However, it has become a predominant cancer and now accounts for approximately 10% of cancer-related mortality in western countries. The „rise‟ of colorectal cancer in developed countries can be attributed to the increasingly ageing population, unfavorable modern dietary habits and an increase in risk factors such as smoking, low physical exercise and obesity. Cancers were treated with one drug on a time. Now a mixture of 2–5 drugs is given in intermittent pulses to realize total tumor cell kill with most common side effects like Hair loss, loose motion, Infections etc. 10% – 15% of early-stage colon cancers harbor either deficient mismatch repair, microsatellite instability high (MSI-H) or POLE exonuclease domain mutations, and are characterized by high tumor mutational burden and increased lymphocytic infiltrate. New treatments for primary and metastatic colorectal cancer have emerged, providing additional options for patients; these treatments include laparoscopic surgery for primary disease, more-aggressive resection of metastatic disease (such as liver and pulmonary metastases), radiotherapy for rectal cancer and neoadjuvant and palliative chemotherapies. However, these new treatment options have had limited impact on cure rates and long-term survival. For these reasons, and the recognition that colorectal cancer is long preceded by a polypoid precursor, screening programmed have gained momentum.

Keywords: Chemotherapy, Colon cancer, Colorectal cancer.