Colorectal Cancer Information
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth most common malignancy
in the United States with 147,500 new cases in 2003,
ranking behind lung, breast, and prostate cancer. With
57,100 deaths, it is the second to lung cancer as the leading
cause of cancer related deaths.
Large bowel cancer can be further divided by the anatomic location of
the tumor into colon and rectal cancer. Colon cancers are
those that arise within the portion of the large bowel that is
within the peritoneal cavity, from the cecum to the peritoneal
reflection where the large bowel becomes the rectum.
The distinction from rectal cancer, although seemingly somewhat
arbitrary, is important to make for several reasons,
including the clinical presentation, the operative management,
and the type of adjuvant therapy offered. Of all large
bowel cancer, the colonic site makes up approximately 70%.
Like rectal cancer, colon cancer management requires a multidisciplinary
team approach in order to optimize detection,
treatment and subsequent surveillance.
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