Staging, prognosis, and survivorship in colon cancer

The American Joint Committee on Cancer released the 7th edition of their staging manual for colon cancer in 2010. The biggest changes were the subcategories added for stage II and III colon cancer, as there is a significant difference in survival based upon the tumor depth of invasion (T stage) within these two stages. The 8th edition is awaiting release in the near future. However, there continues to be a dilemma of which patients with Stage II cancer may benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. There are guidelines that now include clinical, pathologic and genomic factors that allow us to stratify patients into high and low-risk categories, and we should evaluate the different factors and how they are used clinically.
Source: Seminars in Colon and Rectal Surgery - Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Source Type: research