Last updated Oct. 4, 2021
Colorectal cancer shares some symptoms with a less serious, but much more common disease: irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). So how do you know if your symptoms are cancer, IBS or something else?
We talked to David Richards, M.D., about the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and colorectal cancer, and what action you should take if you are experiencing either.
What are the symptoms of irritable...

When I received a phone call about an abnormality discovered during my mammogram in December 2016, I didn’t think much of it. I was prone...
Before I enrolled in one of MD Anderson’s triple-negative breast cancer clinical trial in November 2016, I was in a dark place. I’d been re-diagnosed...
Between 1995 and 2009, I was diagnosed with four different types of cancer. The first diagnosis didn’t really bother me. The second one hit me like a ton of bricks. The third one made me angry. And the fourth one was overwhelming.
For a long time, I wondered what was wrong with me that this kept happening. And I still haven’t found a satisfying explanation. But I’m kind of shocked by how comfortable I feel discussing it now. So...

Dana MacFarlane may have been the one who received a leukemia diagnosis, but she’s certain every one of her family members suffered just as...
Dana MacFarlane is still in awe of her sudden onset of acute myeloid leukemia in July 2017.
“I take blood tests on a routine basis...
I recently finished my last chemotherapy treatment at MD Anderson in Sugar Land. It was a milestone that, at one point, I honestly thought...
I’m really blessed that I found out about my anal cancer diagnosis early on. That’s a big part of the reason why I’m living without any evidence...
Sometimes I forget that I have pancreatic cancer because I just don’t believe it’s going to kill me.
In fact, I’ve never felt healthier...
Radiation therapy to the pelvis is commonly used to treat women with lower gastrointestinal tract cancers, as well as gynecologic cancers,...