Colorectal Cancer Treatment

At Winship Cancer Institute, we perform and analyze advanced tests to understand your particular cancer at every level, allowing our colorectal cancer experts to develop a plan to effectively treat your cancer with the fewest possible side effects. Once this information is gathered, your team of physicians — including your surgeon, pathologist, radiation oncologist, medical oncologist and more — will meet to determine the best course of treatment for your cancer. It’s kind of like getting a second, third and fourth opinion all at the same time.

Once your personalized colorectal cancer treatment plan is created, your team of experts will share it with you, and treatment can be scheduled right away at Winship. We will even work with you and your doctors should you decide to stay closer to home for treatment. Our ultimate goal is to ensure you get your cancer treated the way it needs to be, wherever that is.

Winship is Georgia’s National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, and we pioneer and lead hundreds of clinical trials each year. That means we can offer you access to the latest colorectal cancer treatments you can’t get at other cancer centers. And, we make every effort to match as many patients as possible to ongoing research.

At Winship, we have extensive treatment options for your colorectal cancer. Based on your unique cancer, those treatments can include:

Surgery

Most cases of colorectal cancer involve some type of surgical intervention to remove a tumor or part the of the colon or rectum that contains cancer. Our surgeons are solely dedicated to performing colorectal procedures, meaning they are experts in bowel anatomy and cancer resection (removal). We even have a surgical team that specializes in rectal cancer surgery in an effort to treat this unique disease with as little effect on surrounding tissue as possible.

Chemotherapy

Colorectal cancer treatment often involves chemotherapy, but not always. Because chemotherapy tends to cause adverse side effects, the GI medical oncologists at Winship only use it when there is a very good indication it will benefit your cancer and have a lasting impact on your survival and quality of life.

Targeted Therapy

This type of drug therapy is different from chemotherapy in that it targets a cancer’s specific gene mutations. Winship is collaborating in a large-scale clinical trial that monitors patients’ response to targeted therapy and, depending on how their genomic profile changes during the course of treatment, we can match patients whose cancer has mutated with additional therapies.

Immunotherapy

This type of treatment uses drugs to help your body’s immune system recognize and enhance its ability to tackle cancer cells. At Winship, we are pioneering immunotherapies for colorectal cancers. In addition to several immunotherapy clinical trials for colorectal cancers (link), Winship has an entire immunotherapy research program (link) that is advancing the world’s understanding of how our immune system can be harnessed to fight cancers successfully.

Radiation Therapy

Not commonly used in the treatment of colon cancer, radiation therapy is more frequently used to treat rectal cancer. It’s typically combined with chemotherapy (chemoradiation) and is used to shrink a tumor before surgery or after surgery to help ensure your cancer doesn’t return. In some cases, Winship radiation oncologists are able to fully treat rectal cancer with a course of chemoradiation, making surgery unnecessary.

Proton Therapy

Winship is also one of an elite group of cancer centers offering proton therapy, a precise and powerful radiation therapy used to treat colorectal cancers in some patients. Proton therapy delivers a high dose of radiation to a tumor so precisely it prevents damage to the surrounding healthy tissue.

At Winship, we strive to deliver the most effective treatment while also minimizing side effects. But coping with colorectal cancer and colorectal cancer treatment can be challenging. That’s why we have a supportive oncology team of specialized doctors and nurses on staff to help you with the physical, psychological and emotional aspects of living with cancer, including symptom management and counseling. This team — with the help of counselors, nurse navigators, dietitians and social service professionals — will be with you every step of the way, supporting you during your experience and beyond.