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How is colon cancer treated?
Colon cancer treatment varies depending on the colon cancer stage and desires of the patient. Like many forms of cancer, available treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.
Colon cancer is staged according to the size of the tumor and its invasiveness in the intestinal wall and surrounding tissues.
- Stage 0 (Carcinoma in Situ) - cancer is found in the innermost lining of the colon only.
- Stage I - cancer has spread beyond the innermost lining of the colon to the middle lining. This stage is also called Dukes' A colon cancer.
- Stage II - at this stage the cancer is divided into stage IIA and stage IIB. Stage II cancer is sometimes called Dukes' B colon cancer.
- Stage IIA - cancer has spread beyond the middle tissue layers of the colon wall or has spread to nearby tissues around the colon or rectum.
- Stage IIB - cancer has spread beyond the colon wall into nearby organs and/or through the peritoneum.
- Stage III - at this stage the cancer is divided into IIIA, IIIB, and IIIC and is referred to as Dukes' C colon cancer.
- Stage IIIA - cancer has spread from the innermost tissue layer of the colon to the middle layers and has spread to as many as 3 lymph nodes.
- Stage IIIB - cancer is in as many as 3 nearby lymph nodes and has spread beyond the middle tissue layers of the colon wall or to nearby tissues around the colon or rectum. Cancer may have spread beyond the colon wall to nearby organs and through the peritoneum.
- Stage IIIC - cancer has spread to 4 or more nearby lymph nodes and has spread beyond the colon walls to nearby tissues, organs or through the peritoneum.
- Stage IV - cancer may have spread to nearby lymph nodes and spread to other parts of the body, such as the liver or lungs. This stage is referred to as Dukes' D colon cancer.
Surgery is the most common treatment for all stages of colon cancer. Seventy percent of colorectal cancers are resectable for cure at presentation; 45% of patients are cured by primary surgical resection.
A cancer drug or cancer medication may be given even if the doctor removes all the cancer that can be seen at the time of surgery. This chemotherapy is given to kill any cancer cells that remain. Cancer drugs given for colorectal cancer include irinotecan plus fluorouracil and leucovorin; floxuridine and fluorouracil; or oxiliplatin.
Radiation therapy is a cancer treatment that uses high-energy x-rays or other types of radiation to kill cancer cells. The way the radiation therapy is given depends on the type and stage of the cancer being treated.
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