Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of death due to malignancy in the United States. Approximately 6% of Americans will develop colorectal cancer and 40% of those will die of the disease.…

Colorectal cancer is ideal for screening because it is a common disease affecting 6% of men and women that is fatal in almost 50% of cases yet is curable if detected at an…

Follow-Up after Surgery

Patients who have undergone resections for cure are followed closely to look for evidence of symptomatic or asymptomatic tumor recurrence that may be amenable to curative resection…

Resection of the primary colonic or rectal cancer is the treatment of choice for almost all patients who have resectable lesions and can tolerate general anesthesia. Multiple studies demonstrate that minimally invasive,…

Several groups have an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer: those with inflammatory bowel disease or colorectal polyps, individuals in families affected by the autosomal dominant conditions hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal…

Ethnic Origin

In the United States in the period 1973–1997, the incidence and mortality due to large bowel cancer was higher in blacks than in other ethnic…

Colorectal cancer is a common disease in all developed nations of the World. Until about 10 to 15 years ago, it was largely a surgical disease, with chemotherapy or radiotherapy having little impact on survival.…

Prognosis
Increased age may be associated with a shorter survival time. Women have a better prognosis than men in general. The CRC prognosis worsens when moving from the right to the…

Approximately 85% of patients with CRC can have a curative operation to remove the involved colon and mesentery. Patients need a preoperative colonoscopy and CT of the abdomen to rule out liver metastases. Any…

The two most common classification systems are the Dukes and TNM (tumor/node/metastasis) systems. The original Dukes system was developed for classification of rectal cancers. Dukes A describes a rectal tumor that has not…

Colorectal cancer is common and readily treated in many cases, making it an ideal cancer to try to prevent using screening strategies. Because almost all colorectal cancers arise from adenomatous polyps,…

Incidence and Location

The incidence of CRC increases with age and is highest during the eighth decade of life. Colorectal cancer has shown a gradual shift in location from left-sided…