“Colon and rectal cancer can be treated in a number of ways,” says Elliot Newman, MD, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital, Northwell Health System. “The mainstay of treatment is generally surgery.”
When colon and rectal cancer is caught early, it’s generally contained to just a small portion of the colon or rectum. This makes surgery ideal: Removing the affected area is an effective way to rid the body of the cancer cells, since the cancer has not spread beyond the colon yet. Of course, if the cancer has started to spread, additional treatments may be necessary to treat colon cancer. Therefore, surgery for colon cancer can’t always “cure” the patient, but it may be one step in the process.
Dr. Newman is the Chief of Surgical Oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital, Northwell Health System, and a professor at Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.
References
American Cancer Society. (2020). Surgery for colon cancer.
Bednarski, B.K. (2022). Patient education: colon and rectal cancer (beyond the basics). UpToDate.
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