eHow launches Android app: Get the best of eHow on the go.
Surgery for colon cancer can be open or laproscopic, depending on the size and location of the cancerous c… More
When cancer strikes your colon, your doctor may need to do resection surgery to remove the tumors from you… More
Understanding breast cancer tumor sizes in this free home health video series.… More
Invasive lobular carcinoma, or lobular breast cancer, affects approximately one in ten people diagnosed wi… More
Laser prostate surgery involves the insertion of a thin fiber laser into the urethra to remove enlarged pr… More
Follow-up care is a life-long reality for men who have had prostate cancer surgery. For most men, the foll… More
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly forms of cancer, because the symptoms of this disease are usua… More
You or someone you know has just been diagnosed with cancer, and it's in the neck. Some important decision… More
The most common form of uterine cancer is endometrial cancer. Early detection of endometrial cancer is ext… More
Women who have uterine cancer usually begin treatment within weeks after their diagnosis. The doctor will … More
Stage three lung cancer occurs when the cancer has spread to the lung lining or chest cavity. Treatments s… More
Patients recovering from most forms of surgery generally start out with a liquid diet. As the patient reco… More
Despite what the title says, there is no sure cure for cancer---yet. However there are treatments, even fo… More
Until recently, many brain tumors were considered inoperable. The tumors were either so deep that conventi… More
Summary: Surgery for colon cancer can be open or laproscopic, depending on the size and location of the cancerous cells. Discover the surgery treatment options for colon cancer with helpful information from an oncology specialist and assistant professor of medicine in this free video on cancer.
Dr. Jeffrey Meyerhardtis a leading expert on colonoscopy at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Mass.read more
"The surgery of a colorectal cancer is different between colon and rectal cancer. So starting with colon cancer, there's two type of surgery: there's an open surgery, and there's a laproscopic surgery. There actually been large studies that have shown that with a surgeon that's experienced in laproscopic surgery, the outcomes can be equal. For either of them, the overall goal is to remove the cancer, and remove several centimeters proximal, so before the cancer, and several centimeters distal, or beyond the cancer, in the colon, and then to reconnect the colon together. For the most part, people with colon cancer will be reconnected at the time of surgery, there are people who present, where they've had their bowel obstructed and they may have a temporary colostomy, and later, several months later, the surgeon will be able to reconnect. But for the most part people are reconnected at the time of surgery, to have normal bowel function again. For rectal cancer, the difference is because the rectum is in the pelvis, which is a more fixed structure, and there's a fair amount of muscle that's control continence in there, the location of the rectal cancer depends on what type of surgery you have. So again, there are options to either have an open or laproscopic surgery for rectal cancer, but patients where there's a fairly low rectal cancer right near the muscles that control continence, some of those patients are going to require a permanent colostomy. So a permanent colostomy is required for certain people with rectal cancer, but still most people with rectal cancer fortunately don't need a permanent colostomy. But it's better to actually have a permanent colostomy than to be incontinent, and not have normal bowel function."
eHow Article: About Colon Cancer Surgery
Copyright © 1999-2009 eHow, Inc. Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the eHow Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. en-US Portions of this page are modifications based on work created and shared by Google and used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution License.
