A 70-year-old man had presented to a general practitioner for bleeding in stools. The person examined him in OPD and diagnosed him to have grade 4 hemorrhoids. He posted him for surgery but at the time of operation he realized that the patient has a tumor in the rectum. He abandoned the procedure and took biopsy from the growth.

The patient was diagnosed with a low carcinoma of the rectum. The plan of treatment changed completely. The patient had undergone different investigative tests like CT scan, MRI, PET scan to stage the disease and was advised to have a neoadjuvant treatment with chemotherapy and radiation to shrink the size of the tumor. The patient also had diabetes and hypertension in addition to chronic renal disease. The patient a course of therapy and then had the surgery done after 6 months. Laparoscopic surgery was done, and the patient responded excellently.

He still remains on my follow up with a continuous evaluation and monitoring of symptoms.

Colon and rectal cancers have a good outcome in the long run. They can be effectively treated by a multidisciplinary team of surgeon, medical oncologist and radiation oncologists. The long-term cure rates of colon cancer are very high. We have an aggressive approach to these group of malignancies. Early diagnosis remains the key. The biology of the tumor is another deciding factor. All patients should have complete access to state of art therapies available and aim to get a cure.