Treatments for the main stages of colon cancer will depend mainly on how far cancer has progressed. When cancer has not spread aggressively, surgery is the preferred mode of treatment and chemotherapy may be performed afterward as part of the adjuvant treatment.

Different options to treat the main stages of colon cancer:

Stage 0
At this stage, cancer has not moved beyond the colon’s inner lining, and therefore surgery may work successfully to get rid of the cancer cells. The polyp is typically removed through a local excision or colonoscope. When the tumor is large, a partial colectomy may be needed where a section of the colon may have to be taken out.

Stage 1
In this stage, cancerous tumors have spread beyond the inner lining to the deeper layers and the inner walls of the colon. But cancer has not yet penetrated to the outer walls or gone outside the colon. Surgery is usually the best mode of treatment for removing cancerous cells. Additional treatments are usually not necessary.

Stage 2
Most of the time, at this stage, the cancer cells penetrate the colon walls and move into the nearby tissues without having affected the lymph nodes. Surgery is done for removing the parts containing cancerous cells through partial colectomy. But the doctor may also advise adjuvant treatment in the form of chemotherapy when cancer has a high risk of relapsing because of factors like:

• Abnormal appearance of cancer cells
• If cancer had spread to nearby lymph vessels
• If the surgeon has not removed 12 lymph nodes at least
• If cancer blocked the colon
• Caused a perforation or hole inside the colon wall
• If cancer cells were discovered near the edges of removed tissues, suggesting that some cancerous cells could have stayed behind

Not every oncologist will suggest chemotherapy for this stage of colon cancer and you should, therefore, discuss the advantages and disadvantages first. You need to know whether chemotherapy can cut down risks of recurrence and the possible side-effects it could have on the health of the patient.

Stage 3

This treatment is for cancers that have spread to the nearby lymph nodes, but not to the different body parts. Surgery is done for removing the tumor as well as affected lymph nodes, as far as possible. You can also undergo chemotherapy post surgery. Radiation will be done when the tumor is huge and affecting the surrounding tissues.

Stage 4

Treatment for this main stage of colon cancer is aggressive because cancer has spread to distant tissues and organs. Colon cancers tend to spread into the liver, lungs, peritoneum, brain, and distant lymph nodes. Surgery will not be successful in treating cancer that has reached this stage, but if there are only a handful of areas where cancer has metastasized, these could be removed to extend your lifespan. Chemotherapy will be advised either before or after surgery. Sometimes, hepatic artery infusion is used when the liver has been attacked. When the metastases cannot be taken out as they are too large, chemotherapy is administered before the surgery takes place. This is done in order to shrink the tumor so that the doctor can try removing the affected part of the organ through surgery.

Besides the treatments suggested for the main stages of colon cancer, there are some other options that have often worked well. Targeted therapy, for instance, is done when the metastatic colorectal cancer progresses in spite of other treatments. Radiation is resorted to in order to alleviate the symptoms. You can also consider becoming part of clinical trials. These are studies for testing the efficacy of new treatment methods and new medicines to see if these will work and if they are safe for use. But clinical trials are more of a gamble; your doctor will advise you if it is worth giving a shot.