Colorectal cancer, or colon cancer, occurs in the colon or rectum. As the graphic below shows, the colon is the large intestine or large bowel. The rectum is the passageway that connects the colon to the anus.
Colon cancer, when discovered early, is highly treatable. Even if it spreads into nearby lymph nodes, surgical treatment followed by chemotherapy is highly successful. In the most difficult cases — when the cancer has metastasized to the liver, lungs or other sites — treatment can prolong and add to one’s quality of life.
Most colon cancers develop first as colorectal polyps, which are abnormal growths inside the colon or rectum that may later become cancerous.
