Miguel Rodriguez-Bigas, MD

This management guide covers the risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis, staging, and treatment of colorectal and anal cancers.

The management of rectal cancer in patients with metastatic disease at presentation is highly variable. Although chemoradiation is standard for patients with stage II/III rectal cancer, its role in the metastatic setting is controversial.

Despite the existence of excellent screening and preventive strategies, colorectal carcinoma (CRC) remains a major public health problem in Western countries. The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimated that in 2009, 146,970 people will be diagnosed with CRC, and 49,920 will die of the disease. CRC is the third most common type of cancer in both sexes (after prostate and lung cancers in men and lung and breast cancers in women) and the second most common cause of cancer death in the United States.