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Colorectal cancer almost always develops out of a benign mucosal proliferation, a so-called polyp.  However, it is not possible to determine from the polyp itself, whether it has mutated and not all polyps develop into cancer. In particular, polyps which have evolved from gland tissue are considered dangerous. These polyps, known as ‘adenoma’, can grow and mutate into cancer.

A malignant intestinal tumour grows slowly over years or even decades and affected people often do not notice anything for some time. Blood in the faeces can be a warning signal and someone who notices that his stool is not the usual colour but is red or shows a black admixture (i.e. fresh or clotted blood), should have the cause clarified at once. Another warning signal can be a slow change in the bowel patterns, i.e. when the consistency of stool (hard or soft) or the frequency of bowel motions alters (diarrhoea or constipation).

Pain associated with intestinal cancer is only experienced, once the malignancy is at an advanced stage. Because the warning signs are not obvious and often rather discrete, intestinal cancer is unfortunately detected rather late.

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