Rectal Cancer

Please feel free to read, share your thoughts, your stories and connect with others!
Aemerson
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Apr 18, 2018 1:03 pm

Rectal Cancer

Postby Aemerson » Wed Apr 18, 2018 2:46 pm

My dad is 70 years old. He began having issues with diarrhea, blood, and gas a few weeks ago. He got a colonoscopy on Monday 04/16/18 and this was the results.
FINDINGS:
EXCAVATED LESIONS Multiple non-bleeding diverticula were seen in the descending colon and sigmoid colon. Diverticulosis appeared to be of moderate
severity.
PROTRUDING LESIONS An ulcerated bleeding 10 cm mass of malignant appearance was found in the anus and rectum. The mass caused a partial obstruction. The scope traversed the lesion. Large ulcered apple core lesion from dentate line to 10 cms. With lumen decreased to 1 cm. Multiple cold forceps were performed for histology.

My question is "WHAT DOES ANY OF THIS MEAN?"
Thanks
Annie E

aja1121
Posts: 214
Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2014 5:12 pm

Re: Rectal Cancer

Postby aja1121 » Thu Apr 19, 2018 10:39 am

I'm not an expert, but my husband has been fighting rectal cancer for almost 4 years. Here's my take; hope others will correct me if I'm wrong.

"Multiple non-bleeding diverticula were seen in the descending colon and sigmoid colon. Diverticulosis appeared to be of moderate severity."
Diverticulosis means little bulges or pouches in the colon. I think they are pretty common, especially in older folks. Probably unrelated to the mass, I would guess it's more a case of the doctor making note of what s/he saw. If the pouches get infected, that's called diverticulitis, which can require antibiotics and/or surgery, but the report doesn't note evidence of that.

"An ulcerated bleeding 10 cm mass of malignant appearance was found in the anus and rectum. The mass caused a partial obstruction. The scope traversed the lesion. Large ulcered apple core lesion from dentate line to 10 cms. With lumen decreased to 1 cm. Multiple cold forceps were performed for histology. "
10 cm mass = A little less than 4 inches. There are some sites out there that will show foods or fruits to give an idea of tumor sizes, but based on the definition of apple core lesion that I found (see below), I would guess that measurement is the length of the mass.

Apple core lesion = Circumferential, as opposed to a perfectly round mass that grows from a single spot. First image on this page may make that easier to visualize: https://radiologykey.com/colorectal-cancer-7/

Ulcerated/ulcered = Surface is kind of angry and inflamed, irritated, probably not perfectly smooth.

Malignant appearance = In the doctor's opinion, the mass looks cancerous.

Partial obstruction = The mass was large enough to cause a backup of fecal matter, but did not completely prevent waste from getting through.

Traversed the lesion = They were able to get the scope beyond the mass, which I would assume means they visualized the rest of his colon.

Dentate line = The mass starts low in the anus, right at the dentate line,and proceeds upward for 10 cm. Drawing for reference here: http://www.researchgate.net/figure/A-sc ... _266625536

Lumen decreased to 1 cm = I think this means the mass is reducing the diameter of the rectum to 1 cm, which would be in keeping with the observation of "partial obstruction."

Cold forceps for histology = Forceps are a surgical tool, kind of a fancy tweezer. The doctor used them to take several samples of the mass, which were sent for examination under a microscope to determine whether the mass is cancerous.

I hope this is helpful. Sorry that you have to be on this forum, but it is a great source of information and support.
05/23/14 DH dx Stage 3B rectal ca (age 41)
6/2014 chemorad | 10/2014 LAR, all nodes clean
FOLFOX x 10 | VATS/lung met | ileo reversal
09/15 local recurrence
10/15 colostomy
11/15 FOLFIRI x 4, major growth
02/16 tumor debulked
Stable ten months on Xeloda/Avastin
Growth on clinical trials NCT02024607 (BBI608 + FOLFIRI), NCT02817633 (anti-PD-1 + anti-TIM-3), NCT03175224 (c-Met inhibitor)
09/27/2018 started hospice
02/07/19 died

Aemerson
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Apr 18, 2018 1:03 pm

Re: Rectal Cancer

Postby Aemerson » Thu Apr 19, 2018 1:37 pm

That was a HUGE help
Thanks you
Thanks
Annie E


Return to “Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum”



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 122 guests