How long can colon cancer go undetected?

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asked Mar 29, 2020 in Diseases Conditions by Wavingraving (310 points)
How long can colon cancer go undetected?

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answered Mar 29, 2020 by Cathy21 (85,770 points)
As long as the colon cancer is in the early stages then yes the colon cancer can go undetected for years.

In the early stages of colon cancer the colon cancer usually grows more slowly so it could be starting out and the colon cancer can slowly grow and progress over a period of between 5 years to 10 years.

Then when the colon cancer progresses too far it has a less chance of being curable.

So it's important to get tested for colon cancer as early as possible.

If you have the colon cancer found early enough it can almost always be cured.

However once the colon cancer advances to stage 4 then it becomes harder to cure.

When people have colonoscopies they usually only find around 2 to 5 polyps in the colon.

The average number of polyps that are removed during a colonoscopy in most people is between 1 and 2 polyps that are not cancerous.

However when the polyps are removed it prevents the colon cancer from occurring.

If you do have polyps removed during a colonoscopy then you might need to go in for a colonoscopy every 5 to 6 years instead of every 10 years.

However if no polyps are found during the colonoscopy then you usually only need to have a new colonoscopy every 10 years.

When you turn 50 years old you should have your first colonoscopy and then have a new colonoscopy every 10 years and then by the time you reach 75 years old you can usually cease and stop having colonoscopies but you can continue having colonoscopies if you want to as long as you live.

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