Specially trained members of our Colorectal Cancer Disease Management Team such as nurse practitioner Zana Correa (left), help our survivors of colorectal cancer stay healthy.
Many patients who are diagnosed with colorectal cancer survive the disease, especially when it is detected early. If you are a colorectal cancer survivor, it is important to be aware that you remain at risk for developing the disease again. Memorial Sloan-Kettering offers a range of services to help you address the effects of treatment and improve your quality of life while ensuring you remain vigilant about monitoring your health.
Our Colorectal Cancer Survivorship Program, part of Memorial Sloan-Kettering's institution-wide survivorship initiative, provides services that address the unique needs of colorectal cancer survivors in the years following treatment, including:
- Review of recent medical history and physical examination
- Identification and management of the effects of cancer and its treatment
- Screening referrals for other cancers
- Health promotion recommendations related to nutrition, exercise, and smoking cessation
- Development of treatment summary and follow-up care plan
- Communication with the primary care physician
Patients in the Colorectal Cancer Survivorship Program have regularly scheduled follow-up examinations with a nurse practitioner who is a member of the Colorectal Cancer Disease Management Team and has special training in colorectal cancer survivorship issues.
In your follow-up appointments you may periodically have a blood test to check for tumor markers — proteins in your bloodstream that may signal the presence of cancer cells. For colorectal cancer, this marker is CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen). Rising levels of CEA in a person who has had cancer may sometimes (but not always) provide an early warning that the cancer has returned, allowing for prompt treatment.
If your treatment for colorectal cancer included the construction of a permanent colostomy, you will probably meet with an enterostomal therapist, a person who will teach you how to clean the area and prevent irritation and infection. He or she will also instruct you on how to maintain your colostomy on a daily basis.
