Treatment options for the patient with colorectal cancer

Treatment decisions for patients with colorectal cancer depend on the site and extent of the cancer. Medical factors rarely preclude appropriate treatment. For colonic and upper rectal cancer, curative treatment is almost entirely operative. Even patients with disseminated colon cancer merit a limited palliative resection to abort bleeding and prevent obstruction. When surgery is elective, colostomy is rarely necessary, although it may be required in patients who have obstructed or perforated colon cancer. For distal rectal cancer, various treatment options, including radiation therapy, have reduced the need for a colostomy, although maintaining comparable cure rates. Currently, only about one in seven patients with rectal cancer requires a permanent colostomy.