Colon Cancer

Colon cancer, also called colorectal cancer, is characterized by an uncontrolled growth of cells that line the inside of the colon or rectum. The colon is also known as the large intestine, and the rectum is the very end of the large intestine that opens at the anus.

After a colon cancer diagnosis, doctors perform exams and tests to determine the stage of the cancer. Those stages range from zero (carcinoma in situ, which means cancerous tissue has not yet invaded nearby tissue) to four (cancer has spread to another organ). Stages one through three indicate the extent of the disease, how big the tumor is, and/or how cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes.

Our colon cancer survival measures are: 

• Stage 1 Colon Cancer - Five Year Survival  
• Stage 2 Colon Cancer - Five Year Survival  
• Stage 3 Colon Cancer - Five Year Survival  
• Stage 4 Colon Cancer - Five Year Survival  

Please note: The National Cancer Database requires that reporting hospitals have at least 30 cases in a single stage of cancer to generate a survival report. During the five year period in question (1998 - 2001), we did not diagnose or treat enough stage 0 colon cancer cases to report our survival rates.