Hello and welcome to HCM, I can see that you are worried about colon cancer. And the answer is: Yes - it could be something other than colon cancer. Colon cancer is not usually diagnosed by CT of the abdomen. It is most often diagnosed by colonoscopy - done as a screening colonoscopy or if a patient is having some symptoms - usually bleeding in the stool or weight loss and abdominal pain. Sometimes new constipation may be a signal that there is a problem in the bowel which may also be an indication for colonoscopy. The report of irritation of the bowel on the CT scan is non specific - can suggest a variety of problems like infection, inflammation or possibly other conditions, but it is not suggestive of colon cancer. Colon cancer, if seen on CT scan, would be described growth /tumor or mass. But CT scans are not good in picking up colon cancers. The usual way to work up bowel /colon problem is by doing colonoscopy. Colonoscopy would detect a growth in the colon - which may be cancerous or non-cancerous. If non -cancerous it is called benign. It would also diagnose all kinds of inflammatory colon conditions, or diverticular disease. Any bowel infections, inflammatory conditions or cancerous condition may cause enlargement of the lymph nodes. Benign growths in the colon usually do not cause enlarged lymph nodes. There is also a group of conditions called lymphomas - which are cancerous conditions - which have nothing to do with colon cancer - which cause enlargement of lymph nodes - anywhere in the body - including in the abdomen. It depends on the size of these lymph nodes and their location and other symptoms which the patient presents with, that helps the doctor to try and diagnose the condition. Sometimes doctors decide to wait and observe the patient, sometimes they decide to take a tissue biopsy - a sample of the lymph node for pathological exam - to make the diagnosis. Hope I provided you with the information you requested. Regards and wishing you best of health. Dr. Anna Plichta