Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman's passing from colon cancer highlights how the disease can strike a wide range of people at any age.
In the Philippines, cancer is the third leading cause of death. Colon cancer is the third most common among Filipino men and the fourth most common among women, according to the Department of Health's Philippine Cancer Program. Four Filipinos die of cancer every hour or around 96 cancer patients per day, the DOH said.
It is typical among adults though it can sicken people at any age. Boseman was in his 40s. The disease begins from polyps or non-cancerous lumps of cells in the colon or large intestine. These polyps become cancers over time, according to Mayo Clinic.
Among the most prominent fatalies due to colon cancer in the Philippines was former President Corazon Aquino. She died at the hospital in August 2009. Also called colorectal cancer since it can also start or extend to the rectum, it is treated through surgey, radiation theraphy and chemotheraphy.
Other famous personalities who died of colon cancer are Hollywood icon Audrey Hepburn and former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
According to Mayo Clinic, colon cancer symptoms include: a persistent change in bowel habits, including diarrhea or constipation or a change in the consistency of stool, rectal bleeding or blood in stool, persistent abdominal discomfort, such as cramps, gas or pain, a feeling that bowel doesn't empty completely, weakness or fatigue and unexplained weight loss.
