Colon cancer how long

This process may occur over many years without producing any symptoms. Once colon cancer has developed, it may still be years before it is detected. A stage III colon cancer has about a 40 percent chance of cure and a patient with a stage IV tumor has only a 10 percent chance of a cure. Chemotherapy is used after surgery in many colon cancers which are stage II, III, and IV as it has been shown that it increases the survival rates.

Menu Cytology Onco doctor Malignant tumor. Contents show. How long can you live with colon cancer? Does colon cancer shorten your life? How long until colon cancer kills you? Your colon cancer experience may be different than that of someone else, even if you have the same staged disease. However, it can take several years to quantify the success and significance of those treatments on life expectancy. According to the National Cancer Institute , these factors include:. Colon cancer is currently the fourth most common cancer diagnosed in the United States.

According to the American Cancer Society , about , people were diagnosed with colon cancer in That same year, close to 50, people died from the disease. The good news is the outlook for people with colon cancer has improved in the last several years. According to the Colorectal Cancer Coalition , the mortality rate for people with colon cancer has decreased by roughly 30 percent from through Five-year survival rates for colon cancer are generally broken down by stage.

For example, your doctor may recommend a different treatment plan than someone else with colon cancer. How people respond to treatment also varies greatly. Both of these factors affect outcomes. It is important to discuss all of the options with a doctor and to understand the goal of each treatment. The treatment options available to people with stage 4 colon cancer are more limited than those suitable for the earlier stages of this cancer.

However, there are still some treatment options to consider, as well as other factors to keep in mind. When cancerous cells have spread to distant organs and tissues, surgery is unlikely to cure cancer.

There are some cases in which surgery may still be a good option, though. If a scan reveals that the cancer has only spread to a few small areas, surgery may still be possible. By surgically removing the cancerous cells, doctors hope to help the person live longer. These surgeries will involve the removal of part of the colon as well as the nearby lymph nodes. Additional surgery may remove the areas of tissue into which the cancer has spread. Doctors will typically also recommend chemotherapy , either before or after the surgery.

If the tumor cells are too large to remove, or there are too many of them, doctors will recommend chemotherapy before the person undergoes any surgical procedures.

If this shrinks the tumors, they may then ask a surgeon to proceed with the surgery. Doctors may also need to perform additional surgical procedures if the cancerous growth is likely to obstruct the colon or is already blocking it. In some cases, minimally invasive surgery, such as placing a stent, may be possible. Surgeons can place a stent, which is a hollow tube that typically consists of mesh metal or plastic, into the colon during a colonoscopy.

When successful, a stent may help keep the colon open and make more invasive surgery unnecessary. Doctors may also recommend a diverting colostomy, which essentially cuts the colon above the cancerous tissue and diverts the waste from the body out through a small opening in the skin. If the colon cancer has spread too far for surgery to be effective, chemotherapy is the primary treatment option. Most people with stage 4 colon cancer will receive chemotherapy or specific targeted therapies to help control the cancer progression or symptoms.

Doctors may recommend some treatment regimens that include a targeting drug, which targets either the vascular endothelial growth factor VEGF pathway or the epithelial growth factor receptor EGFR pathway. The choice between regimens will vary in each situation. Kandel P, et al. Colorectal endoscopic mucosal resection EMR. Palliative care. Moertel CG, et al. Levamisole and fluorouracil for adjuvant therapy of resected colon carcinoma. The New England Journal of Medicine.

Dean PA, et al. Laparoscopic-assisted segmental colectomy: Early Mayo Clinic experience. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Warner KJ. Allscripts EPSi. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Grothey A, et al. Duration of adjuvant chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer. New England Journal of Medicine. Andre T, et al.

Current Colorectal Cancer Reports. CDT Mayo study finds colon cancer driven by hereditary gene mutations in 1 in 6 patients April 19, , p. CDT Colorectal cancer cases rising in younger adults, screenings are down March 16, , p. CDT Updated screening guidelines for colorectal cancer Oct. CDT Immune cells may improve accuracy of predicting survival in colorectal cancer March 02, , p.

CDT Study finds less-aggressive chemotherapy after initial treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer to be more beneficial Dec. Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Learn more about this top honor.