Colorectal Cancer

Cancer Care Alberta

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cancer in Canada and is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in Canadian men, and the third leading cause of cancer deaths in Canadian women.

A patient may be predisposed to develop colorectal cancer by a hereditary condition (e.g. hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer, familial adenomatous polyposis) or a personal history of either inflammatory bowel disease (e.g. Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis) or adenomatous polyps. Over 60 per cent of colorectal cancers arise without a clearly identifiable predisposing factor.

Surgical resection is the primary treatment for 80 per cent of CRC patients with non-metastatic disease. Despite potentially curative surgery and the use of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy, more than 40 per cent of stage II/III patients will experience disease recurrence following primary therapy.

The majority of recurrences occur within the first 5 years, predominantly in the liver, but also in the lungs in patients with distal rectal tumour.

A large (N=83,000) SEER analysis reported 5-year disease-specific conditional survival probability ≥80 per cent for stage I/II/III CRC patients.

The following resources are available to help you navigate potential concerns around cancer suspicion, diagnosis, referral pathways and other important information.

ON THIS PAGE:
Quick Reference|Referrals|Resource Navigation|Patient Resources