Colorectal Cancer Case Study

Case scenario

Mrs, C, a fourth eight years old Chinese lady came in with complaint of loss of appetite, abdominal cramps, constipation and blood in her stool. According to her, she was in good health until about six weeks ago, when she had occasional cramps in the left lower quadrant of the abdomen associated with constipation. The episodes of cramping lasted about twenty to thirty minutes and become more severe after meals. She had seen General Practitioner (GP) and was given laxatives which had partially relieved her symptoms. However, she had loss of appetite and weight loss over the past four weeks. In addition, over the period of time she had become increasingly fatigued. When question about her bowel habits, she reported for the past three weeks she was having bright red blood in her stools.

Upon physical examination, she appeared fatigued and in distressed. Head and neck exams were normal. Palpation of the abdomen was tenderness in the left lower quadrant. Percussion over this area was hollow and tympanic sound. Ultrasound was done and it revealed a

It is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the world. For the past few decades, colorectal cancer has been rapidly increasing in many Asian countries (Goh, Quek,. & Yeo, 2005). In Malaysia, the increasing number of cases of colorectal cancer could be related to the improving socioeconomic status and more westernized life style, obesity, and smoking. About eighty percents of Malaysian that are diagnosed with colorectal cancer are above fifty years old and the aging trend of the Malaysians may add to the prevalence. According to Rashid, Aziz, Ahmad, Shah & Sagap, (2009), majority of the patients in Malaysia manifested colorectal cancer in a late stage with poor prognosis, which indeed generates health burden due to poor quality of life and incur high medical