Popular television actor Vibhu Raghave is currently battling stage four colon cancer and undergoing treatment at Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai. According to Vibhu, who has been a part of hit shows like Nisha Aur Uske Cousins and Saavdhan India, he has been battling the condition—which develops in the large intestine or colon with the growths known as polyps that can become cancerous—for the last three years.

The metastasis of the cancer is now in the liver and other organs as well.

According to Vibhu, who is currently undergoing chemotherapy, he found out that the cancer had spread from the liver to his spine, lung, and other areas in the chest last December. While a new round of chemotherapy began in January, unfortunately, the treatment did not work, and the cancer continued to spread.

According to doctors, colon or colorectal cancer starts in your large intestine - the long tube that helps carry digested food to your rectum and out of your body. Colon cancer develops from certain growths in the inner lining of your colon.

Experts say screening tests can help detect precancerous polyps before they can become cancerous tumours.

How does colon cancer affect you?

As your colon wall is made of layers of mucous membrane, tissue, and muscle, the cancer starts in the mucosa - the innermost lining of your colon and consists of cells that make and release mucus and other fluids. If these cells mutate or change, they may create a colon polyp.

With time—in around ten years—polyps in the colon become cancerous, and if you leave them undetected or untreated, cancer can work its way through a layer of tissue, muscle, and the outer layer of your colon. Colon cancer may also spread to other parts of your body via your lymph nodes. Doctors say colon cancer typically affects people who are 50 years and older in age. Over the past 15 years, however, the number of people age 20 to 49 with colon cancer has increased by about 1.5 per cent each year.

While you may have colon cancer without any symptoms, if you do have any, you may not be sure if changes in your body are signs of colon cancer. It happens because some colon cancer symptoms are similar to symptoms of less serious conditions. Common symptoms include:

If you notice blood in the toilet after you poop or after wiping, or if your poop looks dark or bright red, it is time to visit the doctor.

Talk to your doctor if you have persistent constipation or diarrhoea, or if you feel as if you still need to poop after going to the bathroom.

Talk to your doctor if you have belly pain with no known cause that does not go away or hurts a lot.

Like belly pain, there are many things that may make you feel bloated. Talk to your doctor if your bloated belly lasts for more than a week, gets worse, or you have other symptoms like vomiting or blood in or on your poop.

This is a classic sign of cancer and should be worrying if you are not trying to lose weight.

These are symptoms of anemia, which is a sign of colon cancer.

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