Colorectal Cancer Treatment

At University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, our experienced team of colon cancer doctors utilizes the latest technologies to evaluate and deliver effective colon cancer treatment – improving outcomes and increasing the opportunities for a better quality of life. Our physicians, surgeons and staff strive to make patients and families feel as confident and comfortable as possible during the entire treatment process.

Before developing a colorectal cancer treatment plan, your physician will explain the multitude of options available, including a thorough description of the benefits and possible disadvantages of certain treatments. We partner with patients to make decisions that best fit their individual needs and lifestyles.

UH Seidman Cancer Center currently offers the following colon cancer treatment options:

• Surgery: Our skilled gastrointestinal surgeons and surgical oncologists are trained in the latest surgical techniques to treat colorectal cancer, including minimally invasive surgical procedures. 
• Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy uses targeted medications to kill cancer cells. Your doctors may prescribe a combination of different chemotherapy drugs based on your specific type and stage of colon or rectal cancer.
• Radiation therapy: Often used in combination with chemotherapy and/or surgery, our state-of-the-art radiation technology can precisely target cancerous tissue or tumors. The radiation oncology team at UH Seidman Cancer Center uses some of the latest technology to improve cancer treatment planning and deliver powerful radiation directly to the cancer cells.
• Immunotherapy for Colorectal Cancer: Immunotherapy, used to treat some forms of colorectal cancer, uses medication to alert the immune system to the presence of cancer cells so that it can locate and destroy them.
• Clinical trials: UH Seidman Cancer Center has many available clinical trials for patients with colorectal and other types of gastrointestinal cancer. Patients participating in clinical trials may have the opportunity to be among the first to receive novel therapies not yet available at other cancer treatment centers. You can search our clinical trials database for trials specific to colon cancer.

These treatments are sometimes used alone or in combination to offer the most promising results for patients. Following treatment, we are dedicated to providing ongoing surveillance of our patients to ensure early detection of colon cancer recurrence.

Additionally, colorectal cancer patients at UH can benefit from our robust clinical trials program. Participating in a clinical trial can give patients the chance to receive innovative, leading-edge colon cancer treatments that may not be available at other cancer centers.

Combination Therapies for Recurrent and Advanced Colon Cancer Tumors

Today, experienced colorectal cancer physicians can sometimes remove tumors that previously would have been considered untreatable by utilizing combined multidisciplinary methods. With the use of preoperative chemotherapy and radiation to shrink tumors, we now can resect many of these very difficult tumors. UH Seidman Cancer Center has established surgical teams experienced in dealing with these challenging cancers that can remove tumors in multiple organs and in certain cases, can provide a cure for previously incurable tumors. Our surgeons routinely perform combined liver and colon resections or combined resections of rectal tumors and adjacent organs, such as the bladder, uterus, or vagina, with reconstruction. Our surgical suites also have the capability of giving full intraoperative radiation, a treatment option available in few institutions.