The Power of Support Through Advanced Colon Cancer
- Sarah Beran, a mother of two who was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at 34, attributes her strength and ability to stay positive to the unwavering support of her family throughout treatment.
- Now 40, she attends checkups every three months and remains under lifelong medical monitoring, while acknowledging she may pursue therapy to support her ongoing emotional well-being.
- Colorectal screenings are generally advised starting at age 45, but individuals with higher risk factors, such as a family history of colon cancer, may need earlier testing. Consulting a doctor about screening options is recommended.
- Colon cancers start out as a polyp, or small growth, in the colon that causes no symptoms. Although polyps can’t be felt, they can be picked up by screening tests before they cause a problem. It takes up to 10 years for a colon polyp to become a full-blown cancer, which gives doctors time to remove the polyp before it causes a problem.
- The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that state colon cancer screenings begin at 45 years old. This is in response to a rise in colon cancer diagnoses in younger adults. In the past, the disease had predominantly been found in adults 50 years or older, but for those predisposed to get it at a younger age, these new guidelines could potentially help catch it at an earlier stage.
- While working through grief and vulnerable tackling of the emotions that accompany a diagnosis, some find tools like therapy to be helpful. Support groups can also be a benefit for those who are feeling isolated in their feelings of grief. Faith can also be a powerful coping mechanism for some.
- Whichever methods of support you look for after a health diagnosis or losing a loved one, you should know that there is no correct way to grieve. There is no perfect timeline for grieving, either.
Diagnosed at just 34 with stage 4 colon cancer, after noticing blood in her stool, which she initially dismissed as a minor digestive issue, Beran underwent months of chemotherapy, multiple surgeries, and time with an ostomy bag.
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Recounting how she remained resilient while maintaining her role as a parent, she explained, “I’ve always been a very active mom; always down on the ground with them, always involved.
“My husband Brian and I knew that the chemo was going to make me sick. I was going to be in the hospital a lot. I would be in bed a lot. So, we didn’t want them to think I was all of a sudden being a lazy mom.”
RELATED: 5 Possible Signs of Colon Cancer; Don’t Be Afraid to Look in the Toilet!
She also admitted to telling her kids she had the “good cancer,”
“I didn’t want them to go to school and say that I had cancer, and then some kids say, ‘Oh, my grandpa died of cancer.’ I said, ‘I have the good cancer. I’m gonna get better. It’s gonna be OK.'”
Beran said she turned at-home chemo port removals into lighthearted, “magic” moments by adding music and dance parties.
Surrounded by strong family support and a caring partner, she drew strength and comfort throughout her treatment.
Expert Support Resources For Anyone Battling Cancer
- Family Love and Support Makes a World of Difference During Cancer Treatment
- Romance, Family Love, Self-Love, And More– Read Actress Kristen Bell’s Guide To Loving
- A Cancer Survivor’s Ode To Friends and Family: “My Support System Helped Me Heal”
- Faith Perspective: Opening Yourself Up to Others After a Cancer Diagnosis
Despite seeming as if everything is ok, and getting through tough times with her loved ones, Beran admitted to Parents that she’s “still processing” her health struggle, noting that she does “need” therapy.
“I think everyone could benefit from a therapist. And I don’t know why I haven’t yet, but I need to,” she said, also suggesting that her two children, now ages 9 and 11, would profit from speaking with a therapist.
Recounting how sometimes they ask if her cancer will return or if she’ll die from it, she says, “I just try to keep it positive. I don’t want them to live in fear.”
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Finding Support Through a Health Battle
Feeling support from a friends, loved ones, or coworkers can help you express your feelings and maintain a positive attitude during a your own, or a loved one’s health battle or the aftermath of losing someone.
Licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Marianna Strongin previously wrote for SurvivorNet, that it’s “important that you surround yourself with individuals who care and support you throughout your treatment,” which she said can be an “arduous chapter.”
That being said, it’s very important to know your limits on what you can handle during treatment.
“Going through treatment is a very vulnerable and emotionally exhausting experience,” she wrote. “Noticing what you have strength for and what is feeling like too much extremely important to pay attention to as you navigate treatment.”
It is important cancer warriors in the midst of their fight to have a strong support system. So how can you support a loved on in your life who is fighting cancer? SurvivorNet suggests multiple ways you can do so.
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Dr. Shelly Tworoger, a researcher at Moffitt Cancer Center told SurvivorNet that “there’s a number of common things cancer patients can experience, such as anxiety, depression, financial toxicity, social isolation and sometimes even PTSD.” So helping to ease those feelings is a great way to support your loved one.
You can help complete household chores or running errands during the day, which your loved one may not have the time or energy to do. Or, you can simply lend an ear so patients can talk through their feelings, which can help them cope with what they are experiencing during this difficult time.
Meanwhile, there are some practical tips to help you interact with your loved one in a meaningful way. Our experts suggest to avoid asking how you can help. Instead, be proactive and offer tangible things you can do for them to make their lives easier. That could include bringing them food, cooking them dinner or playing a board game with them, anything that will bring them joy.
It’s important to understand that a support system can be made up of loved ones like family and friends. It can also be comprised of strangers who have come together because of a shared cancer experience. Mental health professionals can also be critical parts of a support system.
WATCH: Sharing details about your cancer diagnosis.
“Some people don’t need to go outside of their family and friend’s circle. They feel like they have enough support there,” psychiatrist Dr. Lori Plutchik told SurvivorNet.
“But for people who feel like they need a little bit more, it’s important to reach out to a mental health professional,” Dr. Plutchik added.
Dr. Plutchik also stressed it is important for people supporting cancer warriors to understand their emotions can vary day-to-day.
“People can have a range of emotions, they can include fear, anger, and these emotions tend to be fluid. They can recede and return based on where someone is in the process,” Dr. Plutchik said.
Colon Cancer in Younger Adults
The average age at which people are diagnosed with colon cancer is 68 for men and 72 for women, according to the American Cancer Society.
However, the National Cancer Institute reports that since the 1990s, colorectal cancer cases have been rising among adults younger than 50. Research published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians found that cases in people younger than 55 “increased from 11% in 1995 to 20% in 2019.”
WATCH: Debunking misconceptions about colon cancer.
“We know rates are increasing in young people, but it’s alarming to see how rapidly the whole patient population is shifting younger, despite shrinking numbers in the overall population,” cancer epidemiologist and lead study author Rebecca Siegel said.
Researchers are still trying to determine why younger people are being diagnosed in more significant numbers. Some experts point to risk factors, which include obesity, physical inactivity, and smoking, as a possible explanation for the increase.
“We don’t know for sure why we are seeing earlier onset and death from colon cancer,” Dr. Yeo told SurvivorNet.
“It is likely a combination of factors, including diet and genetics as well as access to care and some environmental factors,” Dr. Yeo added.
Understanding Advanced Colon Cancer
Stage four or metastatic colon cancer means that the tumor has spread outside of the colon to different organs. In some instances, tumors that have spread to one or two places within the liver or lung can be treated surgically with a chance of cure. For most people, however, the treatment for metastatic disease is chemotherapy.
“The first-line chemotherapy for metastatic colon cancer, if they’ve not seen any other chemotherapy before, is the standard FOLFOX,” Colorectal Surgeon and Surgical Oncologist Dr. Heather Yeo at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian explained to SurvivorNet.
“Most colon cancers do respond to FOLFOX. If you respond really well, then we keep you on that until you stop responding really well. But if after a few cycles your disease has progressed, that’s when we think about adding additional chemotherapies,” Dr. Yeo continued.
WATCH: Managing Metastatic Colon Cancer
The cancer starts when abnormal lumps called polyps grow in the colon or rectum. If you don’t have these polyps removed, they can sometimes change into cancer. It takes up to 10 years for a colon polyp to become a full-blown cancer, according to SurvivorNet experts.
“When we see a polyp, we actually physically take the polyp out through the colonoscope,” Dr. Zuri Murrell, a colorectal cancer surgeon and Director of the Cedars-Sinai Colorectal Cancer Center, explained.
WATCH: When to get a colonoscopy
Most colon cancers can be prevented if people are regularly screened. The screening usually involves a colonoscopy, in which a long, thin tube attached to a camera examines the colon and rectum. If no polyps are discovered, the following screening won’t be needed for about ten years.
What Treatment Options Exist for Colon Cancer?
“There are a lot of advances being made in colorectal cancer,” Dr. Yeo previously told SurvivorNet.
Colon cancer treatment is more targeted, meaning doctors often test for specific changes or genetic mutations that cause cancer growth.
Biomarkers are key to tailoring specific treatments. Biomarkers are molecular patterns becoming more commonly used in colon cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and management. According to the National Cancer Institute, a biomarker is “a biological molecule found in blood, other body fluids, or tissues that is a sign of a normal or abnormal process, or a condition or disease,” such as cancer.
“In colon cancer, we’re starting to look more and more at people’s biomarkers, so we’re starting to take the cancers, sequence them, understand where the different mutations are to figure out whether or not someone has a normal gene here or an abnormal gene,” Dr. Yeo explained.
“Those are the areas that people want to be able to target a little bit more. We’re getting close to more what we would call precision medicine, meaning we can start looking at people’s genetic mutations and think about how they might respond to different drugs.”
There are different types of biomarkers, including DNA, proteins, and genetic mutations found in blood, tumor tissue, or other body fluids. The biomarkers most commonly used in colon cancer management are:
- Genetic mutations within the tumor, such as MMR/MSI, KRAS, BRAF, and HER2
- Bloodstream carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)
CEA is a protein produced by most tumor cells (but not all) and can be picked up in the bloodstream. High CEA levels do not establish a colon cancer diagnosis. However, higher CEA levels correlate with a worse prognosis and potential metastasis. Carcinoembryonic antigen is important for post-treatment follow-up to ensure the cancer hasn’t returned. Be sure to check with your doctor before treatment starts to ensure a CEA blood sample has been obtained.
More on Treating Colon Cancer
Surgery and chemotherapy are common approaches to colorectal cancer.
Some examples of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved chemotherapy drug treatments include:
- FOLFOX: leucovorin, 5-FU, and oxaliplatin (Eloxatin)
- FOLFIRI: leucovorin, 5-FU, and irinotecan (Camptosar)
- CAPEOX or CAPOX: capecitabine (Xeloda) and oxaliplatin
- FOLFOXIRI: leucovorin, 5-FU, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan
- Trifluridine and tipiracil (Lonsurf)
WATCH: Understanding Your Options with Metastatic Colon Cancer
Among metastatic colon cancer patients, multiple treatment options exist, including surgical and non-surgical options.
One treatment option includes an oral treatment called Fruquintinib, which is a targeted therapy for adults who have metastatic colorectal cancer and have tried other treatments. Results from a trial recently published showed the drug improved overall survival and progression-free survival, which measures the amount of time before the cancer returns or spreads. It works by blocking the growth of blood vessels, which increases tumor growth.
Once you get to the metastatic setting, many patients “just run out of options,” Jennifer Elliott, head of solid tumors at Takeda, explained to SurvivorNet at last year’s ASCO Annual Meeting. So it was critically important for Takeda to do this deal to in-license fruquintinib. We hope to give patients another option.”
Fruquintinib has been approved in China since 2018 and was originally developed by the Chinese biopharmaceutical company HUTCHMED. Takeda Oncology acquired the exclusive worldwide license for the drug outside of mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau in January 2023.
More on Colon Cancer
Colon cancer is very treatable and curable if caught early. Colon cancer screenings can involve at-home tests such as Cologuard, but a colonoscopy is more effective, according to SurvivorNet experts.
The cancer starts when abnormal lumps called polyps grow in the colon or rectum. It takes up to 10 years for a colon polyp to become full-blown cancer, according to SurvivorNet experts.
The American Gastrointestinal Association lowered the recommended initial age for colorectal screening from 50 to 45. However, experts recommend screening earlier for some people who may be at an increased risk of developing colon cancer, such as those with a family history of the disease.
WATCH: Debunking misconceptions about colon cancer.
The most poignant signature of colon cancer includes a change in bowel habits. This may include constipation or diarrhea due to changes in the size or shape of bowel movements. A change in stool color, particularly black or tarry stools, can indicate bleeding from a tumor that lies deep in the colon.
Other symptoms can be harder to pinpoint, such as abdominal pain and unintentional weight loss. Finally, some tumors bleed a small amount over a long period of time, resulting in anemia (low red blood cell count) that is picked up on blood work.
If You’re Battling Colon Cancer, These Are Important Questions To Ask After a Diagnosis
- Has genetic testing been performed to assess for hereditary colon cancer syndromes?
- What kind of surgery is needed?
- Following surgery: What were the findings regarding margins and lymph nodes?
- What chemotherapy regimen is recommended, including the medications and number of treatment cycles?
- Is there a post-treatment follow-up plan, including any imaging, colonoscopies, or blood work?
- How can a patient maintain quality of life and cope with treatment side effects?
- Is it possible to resume work and family activities during treatment?
- How can diet and lifestyle be adjusted to help manage side effects and support recovery during colon cancer treatment?
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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