4. Watch out if you have blood in your stools
Finding blood in the stools is a common sign in patients with colon cancer. As it grows, colon cancer recruits new blood vessels and creates a few others. New blood vessels are abnormal and very fragile. Thus, intestinal transit is likely to cause erosion, cuts in the blood vessels, and bleeding.
Depending on the site of bleeding, you may see bright red blood, dark red blood, or something called melena. This is a type of dark-stained stool with a very foul odor. In these cases, bleeding is found far from the anus, giving the body enough time to ferment blood.