Dr. Lee was born in Shanghai, China, and received his college and medical training in the United States. He is fluent in English and three Chinese dialects. He graduated with chemistry departmental honors from Harvey Mudd College. He was appointed president of AOA society at UCLA School of Medicine. He underwent internal medicine residency and gastroenterology fellowship training at Cedars Sinai Medical Center.
Jay W. Marks, MD, is a board-certified internist and gastroenterologist. He graduated from Yale University School of Medicine and trained in internal medicine and gastroenterology at UCLA/Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
The colon, also
known as the large intestine or large bowel, constitutes the last part of the digestive tract. The colon is a long, muscular tube that receives undigested food from the small intestine. It removes water from the undigested food, stores it and then finally eliminates it from the body through bowel movements.
The rectum is the last part of the colon adjacent to the
anus.
Cancer of the colon and rectum (colorectal cancer)
is a
malignant tumor arising from the inner wall of the large intestine. These malignant tumors invade nearby tissue and spread to other parts of the
body. Benign tumors
of the colon are called polyps. Benign polyps do not invade
nearby
tissue or spread to other parts of the body like malignant tumors do. Benign polyps can
be removed
easily during colonoscopy and are not life threatening.
However, if
benign polyps are not removed from the large intestine, they
can become
malignant (cancerous) over time. In fact, most of the cancers
of the large
intestine are believed to have evolved from benign
polyps that are pre-cancerous, that is, they are benign at first but later become cancerous.
Cancer of the colon and rectum invades and damages adjacent tissues
and
organs. Cancer cells also can break away and spread to other
parts of the
body (such as the liver and lung) where new tumors grow. The sprocess
whereby colon
cancer preads to distant organs is called metastasis, and the new tumors are called metastases.
Once metastasis has occurred in colorectal cancer, a complete
cure of the
cancer is unlikely.
Colorectal cancer is both preventable and curable. Colorectal
cancer is
prevented by removing precancerous colon polyps
. It is cured if it is found early
and is surgically
removed before it spreads to other parts of the
body. The National
Polyp Study showed in its surveillance program that individuals who
had
their polyps removed experienced a 90% reduction in the incidence of
colorectal cancer.
The few patients in the study who did develop colorectal cancer had their
cancer discovered at
early, surgically or endoscopically curable stages. Since most colon polyps
and
early cancers are silent (produce no symptoms), it is important to do screening and surveillance for colon cancer
in patients
without symptoms or signs of the polyps or cancers. Recommendations
for
cost-effective public screening and surveillance have been
promulgated and
endorsed by numerous societies including the American Cancer
Society, the
National Cancer Institute, American College of
Gastroenterology, American
Medical Association, American College of Physicians, etc.
Abdominal pain is pain in the belly and can be acute or chronic. Causes include inflammation, distention of an organ, and loss of the blood supply to an organ. Abdominal pain can reflect a major problem with one of the organs in the abdomen such as the appendix, gallbladder, large and small intestine, pancreas, liver, colon, duodenum, and spleen.
Colon cancer is a malignancy that arises from the inner lining of the colon. Most, if not all, of these cancers develop from colonic polyps. Removal of these precancerous polyps can prevent colon cancer.
Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammation of the colon. Symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, and rectal bleeding. Ulcerative colitis is closely related to Crohn's disease, and together they are referred to as inflammatory bowel disease. Treatment depends upon the type of ulcerative colitis diagnosed.
Inflammation of the inner lining of the colon is referred to as colitis. Symptoms of the inflammation of the colon lining include diarrhea, pain, and blood in the stool. There are several causes of colitis including infection, ischemia of the colon, inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease, Ulcerative colitis, or microscopic colitis). Treatment depends on the cause of the colitis.
Cancer is a disease caused by an abnormal growth of cells, also called malignancy. It is a group of 100 different diseases, and is not contagious. Cancer can be treated through chemotherapy, a treatment of drugs that destroy cancer cells.
A colon polyp is a benign tumor of the large intestine. Benign polyps do not invade nearby tissue or spread to other parts of the body. Benign polyps can easily be removed during colonoscopy and are not life threatening. If benign polyps are not removed from the large intestine, they can become malignant over time.
Anal cancer, cancer located at the end of the large intestine, has symptoms that include anal or rectal bleeding, anal pain or pressure, anal discharge or itching, a change in bowel movements, and/or a lump in the anal region. Treatment for anal cancer may involve radiation, chemotherapy, or surgery and depends upon the stage of the cancer, its location, whether cancer is eradicated after the first treatment, and whether the patient has HIV.
Though it's difficult to say why some people develop cancer while others don't, research shows that certain risk factors increase a person's odds of developing cancer. These risk factors include growing older, family history of cancer, diet, alcohol and tobacco use, and exposure to sunlight, ionizing radiation, certain chemicals, and some viruses and bacteria.
Digestion is the complex process of turning food you eat into the energy you need to survive. The digestive process also involves creating waste to be eliminated, and is made of a series of muscles that coordinate the movement of food.
Gardners' syndrome, or familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), is an inherited condition in which cancer of the colon and rectum develop. Colon polyps and growths may develop as early as the teens. If these polyps are not removed, they will become cancerous. There are different inheritance patterns for familial adenomatous polyposis.
Disease prevention in men includes routine screening tests that are part of basic prevention medicine. Take an active role in your own health care and discuss screening tests with your doctor early in life. Age of screening and timing of screening depends upon the condition being assessed.
Disease prevention in women includes screening tests that are a basic part of prevention medicine. All screening tests
are commonly available through your general doctor. Some specialized tests may be available elsewhere.
Colonoscopy is a procedure that enables an examiner (usually a
gastroenterologist) to evaluate the appearance of the inside of the colon (large
bowel). This is accomplished by inserting a long flexible tube (the colonoscope)
that is about the thickness of a finger into the anus and then advancing the
colonoscope slowly into the rectum and through the colon. The tip of the
colonoscope has a light and a video camera. The inner colon lining can be
directly visualized in images transmitted from the camera to a television
monitor. This traditional method of examination of the colon is called optical
colonoscopy.
In preparation for colonoscopy, the day before the examination the colon is
emptied using laxatives. Immediately prior to colonoscopy, an intravenous
infusion (IV) is started, and the patient is placed on a monitor for continuously
monitoring the rhythm of the heart, blood pressure, and the amount of oxygen in
the blo...
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