Annual Surveillance for Resected Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer is unique in solid tumor oncology because surgical resection for patients with solitary or oligometastatic disease can provide long-term disease-free survival, and even cure. Largely predicated on the notion that earlier recurrence detection will allow a greater chance of surgery with curative intent, specialty guidelines recommend that patients with stage II or III colorectal cancers should be followed up with a 5-year surveillance program of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) testing, computed tomography (CT) scans, and endoscopy. These guidelines are supported by multiple prior studies on the role and schedule of surveillance, which suggest surveillance increases curative intent surgical resections and improves overall survival.
Source: JAMA - Category: General Medicine Source Type: research