Two key points to distinguish colon cancer from enteritis

I am 50 years old. I started to have pain in my anus for seven or eight days and also had dull pain in my lower abdomen. I had unformed stools once a day. After taking norfloxacin for two days, my stools improved and my anus and lower abdomen felt much lighter. Last night, my stomach started to growl in the middle of the night and I had diarrhea in the morning. I checked online and suspected that it was early stage colon cancer. What other possibilities are there besides colon cancer?

When diarrhea is relieved after taking antibiotics, it should be considered colitis. The clinical manifestations of colon cancer are mainly abdominal pain and loose stools, with constipation and diarrhea alternating, and generally with a chronic onset. Therefore, it is unlikely to consider colon cancer.

The earliest symptoms of colon cancer and gastrointestinal inflammation may include abdominal distension, abdominal pain or abdominal discomfort and indigestion-like symptoms. In clinical practice, special attention should be paid to distinguishing the following two points:

1. Pain

In the case of right colon cancer, most cases are abdominal pain or dull pain. Early symptoms may be intermittent at first, but then become continuous. Antibiotics are ineffective, but abdominal discomfort caused by enteritis will improve after taking antibiotics.

2. Changes in bowel habits are also one of the symptoms of early colon cancer

Right-sided colon cancer manifests itself as early-stage loose stools with pus and blood, and more frequent bowel movements. When the colon cancer tumor continues to grow and affects the passage of stool, alternating diarrhea and constipation may occur. Left-sided colon cancer manifests itself as difficulty in defecation, which worsens as the disease progresses. Patients with colitis generally only have diarrhea symptoms without constipation or difficulty in defecation.