Colon Cancer Continued Care
Overview
There have been many improvements in colon cancer treatments. We have new treatments that target some types of colon cancer. MSK experts have seen these therapies slow the growth of cancer and raise the chance of recovery.
These breakthroughs may help people with colon cancer get back to their lives and usual activities.
Cancer treatment can still cause late side effects months or years after treatment. If this happens, you’ll have a follow-up care plan from a team of MSK colon cancer experts.
Our focus is making sure you have a full and healthy life during and after your care.
We know you may have questions about what comes next. We’re ready to help you move forward. At MSK, we help you and your loved ones find the right kind of support.
MSK helps you live your life after colon cancer treatment ends. Our advanced practice providers have special training to make a survivorship care plan for you. They’ll guide you to the right kind of support, such as rehabilitation and exercise, nutritional counseling, or tobacco cessation.
Follow-up care after colon cancer treatment
Colon cancer survivor Mariely Del Valle was treated at MSK for stage 4 colon cancer.
How does MSK monitor you for colon cancer after treatment?
It’s normal to worry about colon cancer coming back after you finish treatment.
At MSK, you’ll keep seeing your colon cancer care team 1 to 4 times a year after you finish treatment. We plan follow-up visits around your schedule and personal needs.
Your team now includes an advanced practice provider (APP). Your APP is a healthcare provider with special training in colon cancer and follow-up care.
They work closely with the team that cared for you during treatment. An example of an APP is a nurse practitioner (NP).
When you meet with your APP, they’ll monitor (look for) any signs of cancer coming back.
Your APP will make a care plan of imaging tests and blood tests that look for early signs of colon cancer. This plan will tell you how often you need to get checked.
- Colonoscopy is a procedure where your care team will check the inside of your colon. They look for and remove polyps (small growths).
- Flexible sigmoidoscopy (sig-MOY-DOS-koh-pee) is a procedure to look inside your rectum and lower colon. It uses a small camera.
- Computed tomography (CT) scans make 3D images of areas inside your body. The images show your abdomen, pelvis, and chest. CT scans are also called CAT scans.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans make detailed 3D images. We can use the images to see the type, size, and location of tumors.
We may test your blood for the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) protein. This protein is made by colon cancer cells and normal cells.
CEA is a tumor marker that’s higher than normal in some people with colon cancer. If it was high before you had treatment, we may test your CEA level for another 5 years.
If your CEA level rises above normal, your team will decide if you need more follow-up tests. These can include a colonoscopy, imaging tests, or both.
Dr. Ginger Gardner highlights the expert care people receive after they finish active cancer treatment and move into MSK's Adult Survivorship Program.
Welcome. You’ve reached an important milestone in your cancer journey.
I’m Dr. Ginger Gardner, a gynecologic surgeon here at Memorial Sloan Kettering.
Now that your cancer treatment is behind you, I’m excited to discuss what lies ahead as your care is transitioned to the Adult Survivorship Program at MSK. This is the next phase of your cancer journey — you’re moving from cancer-focused treatment to holistic, quality-of-life care. And that’s great news.
Our Survivorship providers are experts in dealing with your cancer and the challenges that survivors like you may experience as a result of prior treatment. That is what they do every day. They have expertise that general practitioners don’t necessarily have.
Your Survivorship Advanced Practice Provider, or APP, will continue to monitor you for cancer recurrence, but will also address other important aspects of your health including screening recommendations for other cancers, physical exams and testing, counseling on healthy living habits, and emotional resources, as well as referral to experts — whether they be within or outside of MSK.
Within Survivorship, all of your care will be completely integrated.
We know how much trust you have developed with your cancer provider and how hard it can be to start seeing someone new. We’re not removing you from your current MSK provider — rather, adding a new expert to your care team. And if you ever need your cancer doctor, they’re simply a phone call away.
Your primary MSK physician will guide you along this transition and put your mind at ease so you can start putting cancer behind you.
What happens at your follow-up visits?
- Check for signs of recurrence (the cancer has come back).
- Look for any side effects of treatment and plan how to manage them.
- Make recommendations about healthy living, such as good nutrition, exercise, and quitting tobacco (smoking, vaping, and other forms).
- Make a follow-up care plan, such as a cancer screening and imaging tests, that’s right for you.
- Schedule appointments with other MSK supportive care experts, if you need them.
It’s normal to feel nervous before follow-up visits. In the days before your appointment, schedule activities that can help distract you from worrying. Try going for walks, doing a calming exercise like yoga, or listening to a soothing meditation. It can really help.
Meet some of the advanced practice providers (APPs) on your colon cancer follow-up care team:
Zana Correa
Advanced Practice Provider
Stephanie Ochman
Advanced Practice Provider
What other follow-up care is needed after colon cancer treatment?
You may feel or see side effects of colon cancer treatment months, and even years, after treatment. At MSK, we have many options to treat these new challenges. Your APP will recommend the best combination of therapies to help you, backed by research.
Side effects of colon cancer treatment can include:
- Incontinence, such as leaking stool (poop), leaking urine (pee), or both.
- Bowel movements (pooping) that are not regular. Their timing may not be what’s normal for you. They may be hard to control. They may be loose or hard.
- Constipation (hard to have a bowel movement).
- Fatigue (feeling very tired).
- Cognitive changes, such as memory loss or having a hard time focusing.
- Nerve problems, such as chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN).
- Anxiety.
- Skin that’s dry, red, and itchy.
- Changes in your ability to have children (fertility).
- Sexual health changes. If you have a penis, you may have trouble having an erection (getting hard). If you have a vagina, you may have pain during sex.
Common questions after colon cancer treatment
You may be in treatment now or nearing the end of your treatment. You probably have questions about what life will look like when your treatment is over. Our experts have the answers to your questions about life after treatment.
Some cancer treatments can cause fertility problems that affect your ability to have a biological child. Fertility problems from cancer treatment can be temporary or permanent.
Radiation therapy and surgery are colon cancer treatments that can affect the fertility of both males and females. Read Common Questions About Fertility After Cancer Treatment to learn more.
MSK’s fertility nurse specialists can talk with you about options for growing your family. Our experts may talk with you about egg and embryo freezing and sperm banking.
Yes. Our Center for Young Onset Colorectal and Gastrointestinal Cancer offers a community of people who know what you’re going through. You will not have to manage life after cancer on your own.
We have experts in the concerns of young adults with colon cancer. We offer practical advice on balancing the demands of work, children, and aging parents.
We counsel you on:
- Dating and intimacy
- Sexual health
- Financial and employment challenges
- Effects of cancer on the whole family
Life during and after colon cancer can feel lonely. You may think no one else understands what you’re going through. You may feel stressed, anxious, left out, or angry.
It can help to talk to someone with special training in cancer mental health. They can help you make sense of your experience before, during, and after cancer treatment.
MSK’s trained cancer mental health team can help you cope with emotional and social challenges. We offer individual and group counseling sessions, both in person and through telemedicine visits. We also have free, online support groups.
MSK was the first U.S. cancer center to start an integrative medicine program. Our experts use therapies like meditation, exercise, and acupuncture to reduce side effects. They’re safe, backed by research, and can help people with cancer.
How we support you after treatment
MSK experts in rehabilitation and physical therapy can help you get your strength back.
What support services does MSK offer after your treatment ends?
At MSK, our cancer experts are here to help you live a full and healthy life after cancer treatment. We focus on all aspects of your life, such as nutrition, emotional support, and dealing with side effects of treatment.
We’ll help you and your loved ones get the resources and care you need as you adjust to this new phase.
Research shows exercise can help with recovery from cancer and lower the long-term effects of some treatments. If you had surgery, exercise can also improve your breathing and how well your lungs work.
MSK is a leader in research on the benefits of staying active during and after cancer. Our exercise specialists will make a plan just for your needs.
Our rehabilitation experts can help you feel better as you return to your life after treatment.
Supportive care is an important part of how we improve your quality of life during and after treatment. These therapies can help with side effects that happen months or years later.
Supportive care can also improve your emotional and spiritual health. MSK’s supportive care experts work with all members of your care team. They make a personal plan for you based on your goals and values.
Supportive care can help you with:
- Pain
- Fatigue (feeling more tired or weak than usual)
- Insomnia (trouble falling and staying asleep)
- Nausea (feeling like throwing up)
- Anxiety
Managing pain from cancer and its treatment is an important part of cancer care. MSK was the first cancer center in the country to have a service just for treating pain in people with cancer.
Our pain experts will help relieve or manage pain after surgery. They can help while you’re still in the hospital, and after you’re home.
We also have a team of experts who manage the symptoms and side effects of cancer treatment.
Some colon cancer treatments can affect your digestion (how your body breaks down food). It can change your taste, how you eat, and how hungry you are.
Our clinical dietitian nutritionists can answer your questions about what you can and should eat. They can help with:
- Planning healthy meals at home.
- Advice about special diets.
- Working around food allergies.
- Managing weight loss or gain.
- Managing loss of appetite.
- Lowering your risk for other health problems after treatment.
Our Integrative Medicine and Wellness Service offers complementary, natural, and holistic treatments. They include acupuncture, meditation, massage therapy, yoga, and exercise.
Cancer therapies can cause side effects. You may want support to cope with chronic pain, fatigue, nerve problems, nausea, insomnia, and stress.
Without using prescription drugs, integrative therapies can help improve and control side effects of treatment.
Integrative medicine and wellness is available in New York City, New Jersey, Westchester, and on Long Island. We also offer virtual classes and workshops.
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Innovations at MSK
Our experts are constantly uncovering new methods of treating colon cancer and managing side effects. Explore the latest colon cancer news from MSK.
Learn about the latest research on acupuncture from MSK. We’re studying how acupuncture can help with the side effects of cancer and its treatment.