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Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis & Staging

Understanding a colorectal cancer diagnosis

When you’re diagnosed with colorectal cancer, your doctor needs to find how advanced the disease is, or how far it has spread. This important part of your colorectal cancer diagnosis is known as staging. This section explains tests and definitions that are used in staging.

Colorectal cancer staging is important because:

  • It tells how much cancer there is in your body and where it’s located.
  • Knowing the extent of the disease helps your doctor develop the right treatment plan.
  • It gives your healthcare team a common language to talk about your treatment.

Here are some of the tests used to determine the stage of your colorectal cancer:

  • Blood Tests: The level of certain substances in your blood is checked. If you have colorectal cancer, you may have a high carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level.
  • Colonoscopy: If a colonoscopy was not used for your original colorectal cancer diagnosis, the entire length of your colon is examined to check for any other abnormal areas.
  • Biopsy: If you have a colonoscopy or a sigmoidoscopy and an abnormal growth is found, your doctor will take a sample, or biopsy, from your colon and/or rectal area.
  • Endorectal Ultrasound: An ultrasound probe that sends out sound waves is inserted into your rectum. A computer-generated picture, created from the echoes of the sound waves, shows how deep the colon or rectal tumor has grown and whether the cancer has spread (or metastasized) to lymph nodes or other nearby tissues.
  • Chest X-Ray: X-rays of your chest can show whether the cancer has spread to your lungs.
  • CT Scan: An X-ray machine linked to a computer gives doctors a detailed picture of areas inside your body. Tumors in your liver, lungs, and other areas will show up on the CT scan.

Your doctor may also use other tests, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), to see if the cancer has spread. Sometimes colorectal cancer staging is not complete until you have surgery to remove the tumor, and the surgeon can observe whether the tumor has metastasized.

During surgery, another very important staging procedure is lymph node sampling.

Important Safety Information

Anaphylactic-like reactions to ELOXATIN have been reported and may occur within minutes of ELOXATIN administration. Epinephrine, corticosteroids, and antihistamines have been employed to alleviate symptoms.

  • Do not take ELOXATIN if you are allergic to any of the ingredients in ELOXATIN or other medicines that contain platinum. Tell your doctor right away if you feel like your throat is closing up, have shortness of breath, a flushed face, a rash, itching/hives, swelling of lips or tongue, sudden cough, dizziness, sweating or chest pain.
  • ELOXATIN can cause nerve problems. Tell your doctor right away if you become sensitive to cold temperatures and cold objects; have trouble breathing, swallowing or saying words; experience jaw tightness, odd feelings in your tongue, or chest pressure; pain; tingling or burning in your hands, feet or around your mouth or throat.
  • Tell your doctor if you develop a dry cough or have trouble breathing; these may be signs of serious lung disease.
  • ELOXATIN can cause liver problems (hepatotoxicity); your doctor will do blood tests to watch for this.
  • Because of the potential risk of fetal harm, pregnant women should not receive ELOXATIN. Women of childbearing potential should avoid becoming pregnant while receiving ELOXATIN.
  • ELOXATIN can cause a decrease in white blood cells, which can lead to infections. Tell your doctor right away if develop any of the following signs of infection: fever, chills, or shivering; cough that brings up mucus, burning or pain on urination, pain on swallowing; sore throat; or redness or swelling at injection site.
  • Other common side effects of ELOXATIN include a decrease in white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and tiredness.
  • Tell your doctor about all the medications you take, including prescription and non-prescription medications, vitamins and herbal supplements.

Tell your doctor if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away. These are not all the possible side effects of ELOXATIN. For more information, ask your doctor or pharmacist.

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