Colorectal cancer: management

The management of colorectal cancer has been transformed in the last decade, from a routine activity for general surgeons to a specialist activity, in which the multidisciplinary team (MDT) guides increasingly complex investigations and treatments. This is applicable for all stages, from early rectal cancer to locally advanced and metastatic disease. Surgery remains the most important individual treatment and, arguably, the only one that currently offers cure. This contribution discusses current issues in the management of cancer of the colon and rectum. General principles can be applied to both sites, but rectal cancer is given particular attention in view of the greater developments in surgery and neoadjuvant treatment for this condition.