An expatiate review on adjuvant chemotherapy of colorectal cancer

Abstract

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death and the third most common cancer globally. For loco regional colon cancer, surgery is the sole curative option. Adjuvant chemotherapy aims to eliminate micro metastases and increase survival. It has been most convincingly proven in stage III illness, even though there is ongoing debate on the usefulness of adjuvant chemotherapy for stage II illness. For the past fifteen years, six months of adjuvant chemotherapy with an oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy has been the accepted standard of care for stage III colon cancer. It is still advised to use 6 months of adjuvant chemotherapy for individuals with stage II illness and high clinicopathological risk. Chemo radiation therapy (CRT) is frequently used as neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy in the treatment of stage II and stage III rectal cancers because this cancer type has a higher risk of local recurrence than other cancer types.