What are the stages of colorectal cancer?
There are four stages to colorectal cancer, like most cancers; stage 1, 2, 3, and 4. Stage 1 colorectal cancer is a localised cancer, meaning it's just within the wall of the colon. Surgery alone is curative in the majority of individuals. Stage 2 colorectal cancer is when the cancer has gone through the wall of the colon. Surgery alone cures most of these but there may be a role for adjuvant chemotherapy (meaning chemotherapy after the surgery) in some individuals. Stage 3 colon cancer is where the tumour has grown through the wall of the colon and there are also lymph nodes that are involved. This can be cured with surgery alone, but there is a greater risk of relapse so usually, adjuvant chemotherapy is recommended. Stage 4 colorectal cancer is when the cancer has spread beyond the colon; It's now in other organs, usually the liver, but it can spread to the lungs and other organs in the body. Some stage 4 colorectal cancers can be cured if all of the tumour can be surgically removed, but that's usually a minority of them. Usually when somebody has stage 4 colorectal cancer it's unfortunately no longer curable. It's treatable, but it's not curable at that point.
