Rectal Cancer

Overview

Enlarge

Mayo Clinic is an international leader in the diagnosis and treatment of rectal cancer. Mayo Clinic physicians have extensive experience treating this disease, performing 100 to 150 surgeries per year. Mayo Clinic offers treatments for rectal cancer that may not be widely available, including laparoscopic (minimally invasive) surgery, intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) and several colostomy-sparing procedures. A team of experts from several medical specialties works together to determine the most appropriate treatment for each patient.

Mayo Clinic has one of the largest colon and rectal surgical practices in the world, performing more than 2,500 surgical procedures per year. Mayo also is active in colon and rectal cancer screening, performing nearly 34,000 colonscopies in 2003. Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota ranked No. 1 among U.S. hospitals in the specialty of digestive disorders in the 2006 U.S. News Best Hospitals ranking.

Diagnosis

Mayo physicians use traditional methods, such as colonoscopy, as well as the latest technologies, including endorectal ultrasound, positron emission tomographic (PET) scans and magnetic resonance imaging to diagnose the true extent of rectal cancer. Mayo Clinic also is a leader in the emerging use of virtual colonoscopy to diagnose rectal cancer. Read more about diagnosis of rectal cancer.

Treatment Options

Surgery is the primary treatment for patients who have rectal cancer. Some patients with very early cancers are also candidates for removal of the tumor through a flexible endoscope or other minimally invasive surgery approaches. Radiation therapy often plays an important role in treatment. Chemotherapy, which uses powerful drugs to kill cancer cells, also may be used. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy are often combined with surgery in patients whose initial cancer has an increased risk of relapse if treated with surgery alone, such as when the tumor extends beyond the rectal wall or lymph nodes are involved. These combined treatments may also be indicated for patients whose cancers relapse at the primary site or in nearby lymph nodes after initial treatment. Read more about treatment for rectal cancer.

• Treatment in Arizona
• Treatment in Florida
• Treatment in Minnesota

About Rectal Cancer

The rectum is the last 8 to 10 inches of the colon, also called the large intestine or the large bowel. Cancers that begin in this section of the colon are called rectal cancer. Most rectal cancers begin as small, non-cancerous clusters of cells called adenomatous polyps. When physicians discover rectal cancer in its early stages, it may be curable. Physicians diagnose about 41,000 cases of rectal cancer each year in the United States.

Read more at
www.MayoClinic.com
A service of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research