Colon Cancer: The Young, the Old, and the Ugly

Beatrice Dionigi, MD, FACS

Colon cancer is becoming the leading cause of death in young men and the second leading cause in women in the United States annually. In recent years, a concerning rise in colon cancer in the younger population has been noticed, and increasing attention to this disease has been given by physicians, surgeons, and scientists around the world. Many questions remain still unanswered on the treatment and management of colon cancer.

In this volume of Clinics, I want to offer our readers a 360-degree view of the most important, but also, debatable aspects in the management of colon cancer known to date. Our readers will adventure into discovering emerging areas of research in early-onset colon cancer patients and then explore in depth the hereditary syndromes from diagnosis to surgical treatment options in Dr. Kalady's manuscript.

Dr. Davids and her team from Boston University will bring us through the poignant article on pregnancy and colon cancer, an overview from fetal and maternal management and prognosis to the need for increased awareness and guidelines for pregnant women after colon cancer.

We will then proceed to discuss the controversies surrounding management strategies of dysplasia and inflammatory bowel disease with Dr. Hull, as well as explore the decision-making process to pursue endoscopy versus surgical resection of complex polyps with Dr. Sethi and the team from Columbia Medical Center. Dr. Gorgun and colleagues will shift gears and guide the readers into the world of our aging population discussing the options for surveillance, endoscopic therapy, and surgery in the elderly affected by colon cancer. At the end of this volume, we will embrace The Ugly. Dr. Weiser and Dr. Pumpalova will review the world of metastatic colon cancer from surgical options to the latest chemotherapy guidelines.

Please let me express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Scott Steele for giving me the opportunity to be the guest editor of this volume dedicated to colon cancer. Dr. Steele has been one of my most important mentors through training and beyond, and I will be forever grateful to have had another chance to work with him on a project for which we both care deeply. A special thank you to all the contributors who have participated in this edition with their original contributions.

Publication History

Article published online:
04 July 2024