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Our 24/7 cancer helpline provides support for people dealing with cancer. We can connect you with trained cancer information specialists who will answer questions about a cancer diagnosis and provide guidance and a compassionate ear.
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At our National Cancer Information Center trained Cancer Information Specialists can answer questions 24 hours a day, every day of the year to empower you with accurate, up-to-date information to help you make educated health decisions. We connect patients, caregivers, and family members with valuable services and resources.
Or ask us how you can get involved and support the fight against cancer. Some of the topics we can assist with include:
For medical questions, we encourage you to review our information with your doctor.
Colorectal cancer might not cause symptoms right away, but if it does, it may cause one or more of these symptoms:
Colorectal cancers can often bleed into the digestive tract. Sometimes the blood can be seen in the stool or make it look darker, but often the stool looks normal. But over time, the blood loss can build up and can lead to low red blood cell counts (anemia). Sometimes the first sign of colorectal cancer is a blood test showing a low red blood cell count.
Some people may have signs that the cancer has spread to the liver with a large liver felt on exam, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes), or trouble breathing from cancer spread to the lungs.
Many of these symptoms can be caused by conditions other than colorectal cancer, such as infection, hemorrhoids, or irritable bowel syndrome. Still, if you have any of these problems, it’s important to see your doctor right away so the cause can be found and treated, if needed. See Tests to Diagnose Colorectal Cancer.
The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team
Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as journalists, editors, and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.
National Cancer Institute. Physician Data Query (PDQ). Colon Cancer Treatment. 2020. Accessed at https://www.cancer.gov/types/colorectal/patient/colorectal-treatment-pdq on February 12, 2020.
National Cancer Institute. Physician Data Query (PDQ). Rectal Cancer Treatment. 2020. Accessed at https://www.cancer.gov/types/colorectal/patient/colorectal-treatment-pdq on February 12, 2020.
Last Revised: June 29, 2020
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