Rectal cancer is cancer that begins in the rectum. The rectum is the last several inches of the large intestine. It starts at the end of the final segment of your colon and ends when it reaches the short, narrow passage leading to the anus.
Cancer inside the rectum (rectal cancer) and cancer inside the colon (colon cancer) are often referred to together as “colorectal cancer.”
While rectal and colon cancers are similar in many ways, their treatments are quite different. This is mainly because the rectum sits in a tight space, barely separated from other organs and structures. The tight space can make surgery to remove rectal cancer complex.
In the past, long-term survival was uncommon for people with rectal cancer, even after extensive treatment. Thanks to treatment advances over the last few decades, rectal cancer survival rates have greatly improved.
Signs and symptoms of rectal cancer include:
When to see a doctor
Make an appointment with your doctor if you have any persistent symptoms that worry you.
Rectal cancer begins when healthy cells in the rectum develop changes (mutations) in their DNA. A cell’s DNA contains the instructions that tell a cell what to do.
The changes tell the cells to grow uncontrollably and to continue living after healthy cells would die. The accumulating cells can form a tumor. With time, the cancer cells can grow to invade and destroy healthy tissue nearby. And cancerous cells can break away and travel (metastasize) to other parts of the body.
For most rectal cancers, it’s not clear what causes the mutations that cause the cancer to form.
Inherited gene mutations that increase the risk of colon and rectal cancer
In some families, gene mutations passed from parents to children increase the risk of colorectal cancer. These mutations are involved in only a small percentage of rectal cancers. Some genes linked to colorectal cancer increase the risk of developing the disease, but they don’t make it inevitable.
Two well-defined genetic colorectal cancer syndromes are:
Genetic testing can detect these and other, rarer inherited colorectal cancer syndromes. If you’re concerned about your family history of colon cancer, talk to your doctor about whether your family history suggests you have a risk of these conditions.
Risk factors for cervical cancer include:
To reduce your risk of cervical cancer