Colon Carcinoma at 40x Magnification

The primary treatment for most colon cancer patients is surgery. In some cases, tumors can be removed through colonoscopic means, but most commonly surgical resection is needed. For some patients, a colostomy is necessary for bodily waste removal following surgery. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy are often used as adjuvants to surgery, but are occasionally the primary means of treatment, especially in individuals that are unable to undergo surgery for health reasons. The side effects of these forms of therapy can be intense because they target all rapidly dividing cells, not just cancer cells.