Page created on September 12, 2021. Last updated on April 11, 2022 at 10:38
Introduction
For introduction, epidemiology, etiology, and pathomechanism, see the corresponding pathology 2 topic. For clinical features, and diagnosis and evaluation, see the corresponding internal medicine topic (61).
Treatment
The gold standard treatment for CRC is radical surgery. Options include left or right hemicolectomy, sigmoid colectomy, or total or subtotal colectomy. This may be performed open, laparoscopically, robot-assisted, etc. At least 12 regional lymph nodes must be removed for proper surgical staging.
Rectal cancer is treated with total mesorectal excision (TME) in most cases, or more modern techniques like transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM).
CRC is one of the few cancers in which M1 cancers can be cured, as surgical resection of liver and/or lung metastases may allow for cure.
Surgery may also be used palliatively, either by resection, bypass operation, stoma formation, or by stenting.