Monday, May 16, 2011

What is the difference between anal cancer and colon cancer

What is the difference between anal cancer and colon cancer?

Cancer - 3 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Your colon is higher up than the anus. Picture a square with the bottom half missing. Put that square in your abdomen. The side going up on the right is the ascending colon, the side going across is the transverse colon and the side going down on the left is the descending colon which ends in the anus. So with such a huge colon, and the fact that cancer can be in all 3 segments, makes it much different than just anal cancer. I hope I'm making sense because it's the only way I can describe the colon.
2 :
Both the colon and the anus are parts of the bowel, with the rectum in between. Anal cancer is rare. The most common type of anal cancer is squamous cell carcinoma. Other rarer types are basal cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma and melanoma. Cancer of the colon and rectum (colo-rectal cancer) is comparatively common. For every case of anal cancer there are over 40 cases of colorectal cancer.
3 :
Besides their anatomical location colon cancers are nearly always adenocarcinomas. Anal cancers are usually squamous cell carcinomas. Anal and rectal cancers are 3 times more likely to recur than the rest of the colon and they have a poorer prognosis. When colon cancers metastasize it is usually to the liver. When anal and rectal cancers metastasize it is usually to the lungs.

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