There are different types of colon cancer treatment. Some treatments are standard and some are being tested in clinical trials. Three types of standard treatments are:

1. Surgery: Surgery is the common treatment for all types colon cancer. Different types of surgery that could be performed to remove the cancer are:

a. Local excision: This procedure is done in very early stages of cancer. The doctor will remove the tumor without cutting the abdominal wall. A tube is put into the colon through the rectum and the cancer is cut and removed called as local excision.

b. Resection: Partial colectomy, which involves removal of cancer and a small amount of healthy tissue around it, is done to remove if the cancer is large. Then anastomosis, i.e. sewing the healthy parts of the colon together is performed. Usually lymph nodes are also removed and observed under a microscope if there is any cancer left.

c. Resection and colostomy: If it is not possible to sew the two ends of the colon then an opening is made on the outside of the body for waste to pass through. This is called as colostomy. The waste is collected in a bag placed around the stoma.

d. Radiofrequency ablation: In this colon cancer treatment a special probe with tiny electrodes is used to kill cancer cells. Sometimes the probe is inserted directly through the skin under local anesthesia. In other cases, the probe is inserted in the abdomen through an incision which is done under general anesthesia.

e. Cryosurgery or cryotherapy: In this type of colon cancer treatment, an instrument is used to freeze and destroy abnormal tissue.

Although the cancer is removed by the doctor that is seen, still chemotherapy or radiation therapy is given after surgery to kill the cancer cells that are left. Adjuvant therapy is a treatment given after the surgery to increase the chances of cure.

2. Chemotherapy: Drugs are used in chemotherapy to stop the cancer cells from growing, either by killing the cells or stopping them from dividing. Chemotherapy is either given by mouth or injected into a vein. The drug enters the blood stream and reach cancer cells throughout the body. This is called as systemic chemotherapy. In colon cancer treatment by regional chemotherapy, the drug is placed directly into the spinal column, an organ, or a body cavity such as the abdomen the drug mainly affects the cancer cells present in those areas.

If the cancer has spread to the liver, then chemoembolization of the hepatic artery may be used to treat the cancer. The hepatic artery is blocked and anticancer drugs are injected between the blockage and the liver. The drugs are then delivered throughout the liver by liver.s arteries. Very less amount of drug reaches the other part of the body. This blockage is either temporary or permanent depending upon what is used to block the artery. The hepatic portal vein continues to send blood to the liver, which carries blood from the stomach and intestine.

3. Radiation therapy: In colon cancer treatment by radiation, high-energy X-rays or other types of rays are used to kill cancer cells or stop them from growing. Under external radiation therapy, machine is used from outside the body to send radiation toward the cancer. Whereas in internal radiation therapy radioactive substances sealed in needles, seeds, wires or catheters are placed directly near the cancer.

4. Biological therapy or Immunotherapy: Under this treatment of colon cancer, the patient.s immune system is used to fight cancer. Substances made by the body or in the laboratory are used to boost, direct or restore the body.s natural defenses against cancer.