COLON CANCER TREATMENT

Surgery is the most common treatment for colorectal cancer. For cancers that have not spread, surgical removal may be curative. A permanent colostomy (creation of an abdominal opening for elimination of body waste) is rarely needed for colon cancer and is infrequently required for rectal cancer. Chemotherapy alone, or in combination with radiation, is given before or after surgery to most patients whose cancer has penetrated the bowel wall deeply or spread to lymph nodes. Adjuvant chemotherapy (anticancer drugs in addition to surgery or radiation) for colon cancer in otherwise healthy patients 70 years of age and older is equally effective as in younger patients; toxicity in older patients can be limited if certain drugs (e.g., oxaliplatin) are avoided. Several targeted therapies are approved by the FDA to treat metastatic colorectal cancer: bevacizumab (Avastin) and ziv-aflibercept (Zaltrap) block the growth of blood vessels to the tumor, and cetuximab (Erbitux) and panitumumab (Vectibix) block the effects of hormone-like factors that promote cancer growth.source:American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2013. Atlanta: American Cancer Society; 2013