Treatments and Therapies for Colon Cancer

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Fred Hutch Cancer Center offers comprehensive care for colon cancer. We offer advanced treatments and new options available only through clinical trials. The most common treatments for colon cancer are surgery, chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy. Often, patients have a combination of treatments. But not everyone needs all of these. We’ll tailor your treatment to you.

At Fred Hutch, many people with colon cancer see providers at our Colorectal Cancer Specialty Clinic. At this clinic, all of the specialists who will be part of your care come together. In a meeting called a tumor board, they discuss treatment options and design treatment to meet your needs. You will receive a multidisciplinary treatment plan in a single day. Our goal is to see you within one week so you can start your treatment quickly.

There are many similarities between colon cancer and rectal cancer. But there are some differences in the ways they are usually treated. Learn about rectal cancer treatment.

Colon Cancer Care Tailored to You

You and your family are our top priority. At Fred Hutch Cancer Center, we offer comprehensive and compassionate care — personalized to you. You'll have access to the latest treatment options, clinical trials and supportive care services. 

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How We Treat Colon Cancer at Fred Hutch 

Surgery

Most people with colon cancer begin treatment by having surgery to remove their cancer. There is a range of options — from removing a single small polyp to taking out a large section of the colon. 

As a patient at Fred Hutch, you’ll have surgery by a UW Medicine colorectal surgeon. Your surgeon will be specially trained and board certified in colorectal surgery. They will recommend the best procedure to match your needs.

 

Read About Colon Cancer Surgery

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy helps to destroy cancer cells wherever they may be in your body. Usually, it means you get anti-cancer medicine through an intravenous (IV) line. Then the medicine travels throughout your body through your bloodstream. 

Medical oncologists at Fred Hutch use chemotherapy to:

  • Help shrink tumors before surgery
  • Keep tumors from coming back after surgery
  • Control tumors that can’t be removed
Read About Chemotherapy for Colon Cancer

Targeted Therapy

Targeted therapies are newer cancer treatments that work more selectively than standard chemotherapy. Targeted therapies work in one of three ways:

  • They target a gene or protein that causes cancer growth.
  • They damage cancer cells directly.
  • They tell your immune system to attack certain cells. This is also called immunotherapy.

These medicines are important if you have colon cancer that has spread to other parts of your body (advanced or metastatic cancer).

Learn About Targeted Therapy for Colon Cancer

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapies are some of the latest innovations at Fred Hutch. They use the power of your immune system to fight your cancer. Immune checkpoint inhibitors may be a key treatment for you if your colon cancer has certain features: dMMR (deficient mismatch repair) or MSI-H (microsatellite instability-high). 

If you have early-stage colon cancer that is MSI-H (also referred to as MSI), your care team may recommend having immunotherapy before surgery. Your tissue biopsy can be tested to see if immunotherapy would be helpful for your cancer. 

Read About Immunotherapy for Colon Cancer

Treating Liver Metastases

If colon cancer has spread to your liver, we offer a wide range of therapies. Surgeons and interventional radiologists work together at UW Medicine’s Liver Tumor Clinic to provide care for Fred Hutch patients. Treatments are like those for cancer that started in the liver. Options include:

Read About Treatment for Liver Tumors and Cancer

CRS-HIPEC

Sometimes colon cancer spreads to the lining of the abdomen. If this happens, you might benefit from a treatment called CRS-HIPEC. It stands for cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy.  

CRS-HIPEC combines surgery and chemotherapy. A specially trained sugical oncologist removes any visible cancer. Then they put warm liquid chemotherapy into the abdomen to treat any cancer cells that remain. Fred Hutch has an experienced CRS-HIPEC team to offer this highly specialized option.

Learn About CRS-HIPEC for Colon Cancer

Why Choose Fred Hutch for Colon Cancer Treatment 

At Fred Hutch, we understand this may be one of the most intense and challenging experiences you and your family ever go through. We are here to provide the care you need.  

Team-Based Care from Specialists

Fred Hutch has surgeons, medical oncologists and pathologists who specialize in colorectal cancer. We offer the most advanced diagnostic, treatment and recovery programs. Along with treating your cancer, we also offer a range of services to support you and your caregiver. This is part of how we take care of you — not just your disease. From registered dietitians to chaplains to social workers, our experts know how to care for people with colon cancer.

Treatment Tailored to You

We view treatment as a collaborative effort. Your Fred Hutch physicians will explain all your options. We’ll recommend a treatment plan to get you the best results based on the stage and size of your cancer, where it is and your overall health. Data from cancer centers across the country show that people who start colon cancer treatment at Fred Hutch have higher survival rates on average than those who started at other centers. 

Clinical Trials to Improve Outcomes

Many of our patients receive promising therapies by taking part in colon cancer clinical trials. These research studies are done by physician-scientists from Fred Hutch and UW Medicine. They test new treatments or new ways to use current treatments. Every advance in cancer treatment in recent years has come out of clinical trials. Through the Cancer Consortium, we typically have more than 750 active clinical trials, which means more treatment options for people like you.

Colon Cancer Treatment FAQ

The best way to treat colon cancer depends on many factors, like the size of the tumor, where it is and if it has spread. For many people, the main treatment is surgery. The idea is that the most effective treatment is to remove any tumor from the body, if possible. For early-stage colon cancer, this may be the only treatment you need.

If cancer has spread through the muscle of the colon wall or to other tissues, like lymph nodes, surgery might not work well enough on its own. You might need other treatments, too, like chemotherapy. For advanced cancer that has spread further in the body, surgery may not be helpful, but other treatments may help control the disease. At Fred Hutch, we design your treatment plan around what will be most effective for you.

In general, people who have the same stage of colon cancer often have the same or similar treatments. Common treatments by stage may include:

  • Stage I (1): Surgery to remove the tumor (resection). This could mean only taking out a polyp, or it could mean taking out a segment of your colon. 
  • Stage II (2): Surgery to remove the tumor and a segment of the colon. The surgeon will also take out nearby lymph nodes. People with stage II colon cancer may also have chemotherapy.
  • Stage III (3): Surgery to remove the tumor and a segment of the colon. The surgeon will take out nearby lymph nodes, too. People with stage III colon cancer typically have chemotherapy after surgery.
  • Stage IV (4): People with stage IV colon cancer may not have surgery because chances are low that it will cure the disease. Treatment focuses on the whole body, typically with chemotherapy, targeted therapy and/or immunotherapy. But sometimes surgery to remove tumors may help a person live longer. If colon cancer has spread to the liver, there are treatments just for this. They are similar to treatments for cancer that started in the liver.

Fred Hutch offers all standard treatment for colon cancer. Our patients also have access to newer options or treatment combinations that you can only get through clinical trials.

Fred Hutch researchers are always looking for better ways to treat colorectal cancer. We are doing clinical trials of new drugs and drug combinations to treat different types of colon tumors. Our scientists are also developing new methods to tell which tumors are likely to respond best to which treatments. 

Learn more about colon cancer research.