This Friday, the Guadeloupe committee of the National League Against Cancer had a stand at the Clinique Les Eaux Claires. On this last day of a month of March devoted to information on cancers, and particularly on colorectal cancer, the aim was to raise public awareness of questions relating to screening for this cancer. A Cancer from which Didier Elapin managed to get out of it and from which he still keeps the stigmata. But what matters to him today is to be alive and to live as well as possible.
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Fighting to survive is Didier Elapin’s obstacle course. This 55-year-old man was operated on for colon cancer. He overcame the disease and has been in remission since 2022.
Didier experienced a late diagnosis and some medical wanderings.
He chose to testify to make as many people as possible aware of this disease.
Colon cancer is a disease of the cells that line the inside lining of the colon. It develops from an initially normal cell which transforms and multiplies in an anarchic way, until it forms a masse called a malignant tumor (or cancer).
Colorectal cancer, or cancer of the colon-rectum, is the 3e most common cancer in men following those of the prostate and lung. It’s the 2e most common cancer in women following breast cancer.
Each year it affects more than 43 000 people in France (including approximately 23,000 men and 20,000 women). It is responsible for more than 17,000 deaths per year.
- the occurrence of abdominal pain;
- the presence of blood in the stool;
- sudden or worsening constipation;
- prolonged diarrhea;
- an alternation between diarrhea and constipation;
- a constant urge to have a bowel movement;
- a mass on palpation of the abdomen;
- an unexplained deterioration in general condition, manifested in particular by a loss of weight and appetite, a decrease in food intake and fatigue;
- unexplained anemia.
Colon cancer can also be suspected if the immunological test for blood in the stool carried out as part of the national colorectal cancer screening program is positive.
Age increases the risk of developing colon cancer: 9 out of 10 people affected are over 50 years old.
Lifestyle habits are also involved:
The risk of developing colon cancer is increased in people with inflammatory bowel diseases (such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), genetic diseases (familial adenomatous polyposis), and Lynch syndrome (or HNPCC ).
A family history of colon or rectal cancer is also a risk factor.
Documentation : Institut National du Cancer
