If the early symptoms of colon cancer are detected then it can treated and if you are cautious and do the following test after regular interval of time, then you can save your life. Each of the following tests can be done alone or in combination depending on the result of one test and severity of the symptoms.
Stool test: This is very simple test where you have to purchase test lit from the market under the advice of doctor, put a sample of stool on the card and submit it to the laboratory for testing. This test will check out for the presence of blood in the stool.
Flexible sigmoidoscopy: In this test the doctor puts a flexible tube into the rectum o find out whether there are polyps or cancer cells present in the rectum. Sometimes this test is used along with stool test for better accuracy.
Colonoscopy: This test is similar to sigmoidoscopy test; the only difference is the length of the tube which is inserted into the rectum. If there are any polyps present then they are removed.
Double contrast barium enema: Liquid containing barium is injected into your rectum and then x-rays of the colon and rectum are taken. The areas affected by cancer will be visible as dark shadows.