A gastroenterologist explains how long cancer of the colon can go undetected.
“Cancer [including that of the colon] can go undetected for many years since it rarely causes any pain or symptoms other than anemia,” says John Covington, MD, a gastroenterologist with a private practice in Maryland.
“If caught early it is curable. Polyps can sometimes turn into cancer, but they do not cause any symptoms.
“You don’t know that you have polyps unless the doctor looks inside with a colonoscope. So in order to detect and remove them, colonoscopy is needed every 10 years.”
Based on this information, one can deduce that cancer in the colon can go undetected for up to 10 years, meaning, a colonoscopy turns up normal results, and then one a decade later shows a malignant tumor.
But it’s impossible to tell at what point along the timeline that a polyp, which would have precursed a primary cancer in the colon, began growing, and even more elusive would be at one point it began transforming into a malignancy.
Another point to consider is that a person may begin developing symptoms from a colon cancer, but there’s no way to tell how long the disease had been festering inside their gut prior to the development of symptoms.
The precise, absolute answer to “How long can colon cancer go undetected,” then, remains undetermined.
Dr. Covington provides comprehensive care for digestive tract diseases, offering the latest diagnostic and treatment options including colonoscopy, upper endoscopy and small bowel capsule endoscopy.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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