Phone Numbers
Directory assistance
(203) 688-4242
Patient information
(203) 688-4177
Adult emergency
(203) 688-2222
Children's emergency
(203) 688-3333
Admitting
(203) 688-2221
Children's admitting
(203) 688-3331
Psychiatric admitting
(203) 688-9907
Mailing address:
Yale-New Haven Hospital
20 York Street
New Haven, CT
06510-3202
Treating colorectal cancer at
Yale-New Haven Hospital
Treatment of colorectal cancer depends on the size and location of the tumor, the stage of the disease, your overall health and other factors. Your physician will discuss all treatment options with you.
Surgery for colorectal cancers
Surgery is the most common treatment for cancer that has not spread
beyond the colon wall. In the past, people feared colon surgery because
they thought they would have to live with a permanent colostomy. A colostomy
is an opening in the abdominal wall through which body wastes are collected
in a bag worn near the opening.
Whenever possible, Yale-New Haven surgeons avoid a colostomy for colon and rectal cancer patients.
Sometimes your surgeon will also remove lymph nodes located near the intestine and have them checked for cancer. Depending on the extent of your cancer, you may also receive additional treatment with chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
Surgery for rectal cancer
Rectal cancer can sometimes be treated without performing major surgery
in the abdomen.
Polypectomy
During this procedure, early-stage cancerous growths in the rectum are
cut out at the base of the stalk-like growth.
Local excision
Surgeons remove superficial cancerous growths and some amount of underlying
healthy tissue in the rectum.
Local full thickness resection
This procedure for invasive cancers involves cutting deeper into the layers
of the rectum to remove cancers and underlying healthy tissue.
See also:
Cancer Services home page
Online
physician referral service
Last revised: May 1, 2007 (dh)
