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This year, about 148,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Although many people think of colorectal cancer as a disease that primarily affects men, it is slightly more common in women. Today, the average person has about a 1 in 20 chance of developing colorectal cancer during his or her life.

The colon is divided into four sections: the ascending colon, transverse colon, descending colon, and sigmoid colon. Most colorectal cancers arise in the sigmoid colon just above the rectum. They usually start in the innermost layer and can grow through some or all of the several tissue layers that make up the colon and rectum. The extent to which a cancer penetrates the various tissue layers determines the stage of the disease. Most colorectal cancers grow slowly over a period of several years, often beginning as small benign growths called polyps. Removing these polyps early, before they become malignant, is an effective means of preventing colorectal cancer.

Innovative approaches to the management of colorectal cancers are being employed at the UFSCC. Multimodality treatment for rectal cancer leading to tumor down staging and sphincter preserving tumor resections are being employed with excellent success. We offer both open and minimally invasive surgery. In addition, we offer Transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM) for selected patients to increase the chance of sphincter preservation as well as decrease the invasiveness of the procedure.

Early detection is the key to prevention of colon cancer and also to decrease morbidity related to the cancer treatment. Depending on the stage of the cancer and location, patient may need pre or post surgical chemo and radiation therapy.