Symptoms indicative of colon cancer include:

• Gastrointestinal inflammation
• Rectal bleeding
• Changes in bowel habits

These symptoms usually indicate that the disease has already reached advanced stages. Medical science recommends early detection of the disease, catching it when pre-cancerous polyps are detected – before it becomes a developing tumor on the intestinal lining or passes into the regional lymph nodes, blood vessels, or to the liver or other organs.

Treating colorectal cancer

Surgery is the definitive treatment for early-stage colorectal cancer. During the operation, the surgeon removes the tumor and tumor-draining lymph nodes.

After the operation, the patient receives auxiliary preventive chemotherapy especially when the disease has spread to regional glands (stage III). If a patient’s cancer has not spread to other glands, medical science recommendations are mixed about whether or not auxiliary chemotherapy is advised.

About 25% of patients who are diagnosed with colorectal cancer will also be diagnosed with metastatic liver disease. In these cases, pre-surgical chemotherapy is administered, after which the initial tumor and metastases are removed.

Doctors recommend that patients lead healthy lifestyles during treatment, avoiding smoking and drinking.

Colectomy

There are several types of colon resection surgeries (including partial resection and full resection), and each can be performed using different approaches (such as traditional open surgery, laparoscopic surgery, and robot-assisted surgery). What these operations all have in common is the fundamental principle behind them: the surgeon wants to cut out the section of the intestinal tract that contains the cancerous growth, including safety margins, and reconnect the healthy ends.

The colectomy can be minimal – removing a small part of the intestine – or can include a complete resection of the entire intestine, including the rectum.

Open, laparoscopic, and robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery are the most common colectomy surgeries.

Open surgery

Open surgery is the classic surgical approach to treating colon cancer. During this procedure, typically performed under general anesthesia, the surgeon creates an incision in the lower abdomen through which he or she removes the cancerous growth.

The benefits of this approach include:

• Wider exposure to the organs
• Simplicity for the surgeon
• Better surgical control in patients who have undergone multiple abdominal surgeries or for large tumors involving other abdominal organs 
   

Laparoscopic surgery

The laparoscopic (minimally invasive) revolution in medicine simplifies bowel surgeries for patients and does away with large abdominal incisions. Today, a fair percentage of surgeries are performed laparoscopically, by opening tiny holes in the abdomen through which special surgical instruments are inserted and a sophisticated camera transmits images.

Benefits of laparoscopy include:

• Reduction in surgical trauma
• Improved cosmetic results
• Reduced surgery and hospitalization time
• Lowered blood loss during the procedure

Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery

Assuta offers robot-assisted bowel resection, the leading edge in intestinal surgery. The procedure is performed using the sophisticated da Vinci robotic device that performs the operation inside the patient while the surgeon controls the 4-armed device from outside the body. (The robot does not run automatically).

The da Vinci device can access and maneuver in spaces and in ways that the human hand cannot. This enables the surgeon to perform the surgery more accurately, reaching target blood vessels and nerves, and avoiding damage to delicate tissues. The procedure is supported by a high-resolution camera for navigating and viewing the surgical area.

Rectal resection surgery for rectal cancer

When cancer is detected in the rectum (the last part of the digestive system), the surgeon may recommend rectal resection surgery – removal of the rectum.

There are several types of surgery for rectal cancer, depending on the stage and other factors.