How Targeted Therapy Works to Treat Colon Cancer

The use of targeted therapy for colorectal cancers — which are cancers of the large intestine, including colon cancer and rectal cancer — has increased significantly over the past five to 10 years.

“We’ve seen significant improvements in outcomes in patients who receive targeted therapy for metastatic disease,” says Elliot Newman, MD, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital, Northwell Health System. “We know that in those patients, adding different types of targeted therapies can improve survival significantly — compared to patients who are not receiving targeted therapies and just receiving chemotherapy alone.”

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Written by:

Brittany Doohan

Brittany Doohan was the Content Director at HealthiNation and is currently the Editorial Director at Medscape. Through her work with Medscape, she won a Silver Telly Award in May 2022 for "Sleepless Nation: A Public Health Epidemic — Episode 2: A Decade Without a Diagnosis." She has worked in health journalism and video production for more than 8 years, and loves the challenge of explaining complex topics in an easy-to-understand and creative way.

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Alexandra Schwarz, MD

Dr. Schwarz is board eligible Sleep Medicine and board certified Family Medicine physician. She is a member of the AASM and ABFM.

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