American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons - Patient Information
The Patients & Public section of the Society's Web site provides information about colorectal cancer, including risk factors, screening tests, symptoms, and diagnosis. There is limited treatment information. Patients can find information about familial colon cancer registries for those who have a family history of the disease. You can also search the Society's database to find a colorectal surgeon in your area.
Here you will find comprehensive information from the National Cancer Institute about colon cancer and rectal cancer. This includes risk factors of the diseases, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options. You can find information about factors that affect recovery, as well as results of colon and rectal cancer clinical trials. Information is presented in two formats -- for patients and for health professionals -- and the site indicates when information was last updated. You can also search for information about clinical trials involving patients with colon or rectal cancer. Information is also available in Spanish.
There is also a helpful online booklet What You Need To Know About Cancer of the Colon and Rectum which you can page through to learn about bladder cancer symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and questions to ask the doctor. Words that may be unfamiliar appear in italics. Definitions of these and other terms related to cancer can be found in the NCI Dictionary.
MedlinePlus, a Web site of the National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, provides links to a compilation of noteworthy colorectal cancer resources on the Web. Here, information is organized by subject -- Overviews, Diagnosis/Symptoms, Treatment, Prevention/Screening, Clinical Trials, and Research, for example -- and within each subject you will find links to other Web resources, with the source of that information in parentheses next to the link. In the News section of the site, you can find links to news articles on colorectal cancer that have been written in the past 90 days. If you scroll to the end of each news article, you will find links to related topics.
The Multimedia & Cool Tools section offers an Interactive Health Tutorial on Colon Cancer. This tutorial, similar to a slide show with sound, describes in easy-to-understand terms the causes of colon cancer, symptoms, diagnosis, staging, surgery, and other treatment options. You will need Flash Player to access the tutorial, which you can download for free from the Internet. Here, you will find several "OR-Live" videos of several different types of colorectal operations.
This National Institute of Health site is tailored specifically to the senior population, with large, easy to read text, and controls that allow users to increase/decrease font size and screen contrast, and even select to have the text read aloud. The section on colorectal cancer contains chapters on Causes and Risk Factors, Testing and Diagnosis, Treatment and Research, and approximately 25 Frequently Asked Questions. Each section is divided into easily navigable pages. The site also clearly displays the date the information was last reviewed and first published and a link to MedLinePlus for additional information on the disease.
Colon and Rectal Cancer Treatment Summaries @ National Comprehensive Cancer Network
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network's patient summaries for colon and rectal cancer are designed to help you understand your disease and inform you of the best treatments available at leading cancer centers throughout the United States.
You can search for treatment summaries by keyword or category. Categories are grouped by stage (extent or severity) of cancer diagnosis. Each summary includes information such as background, diagnosis, tumor stage, treatment and prognosis. Treatment options are clearly grouped into categories such as surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, chemoradiation (a combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy), and targeted therapy.
You will also find a Guide to Clinical Trials, and a colon and rectal cancer checklist, which prompts you to remember key points such as getting second opinions, understanding the order in which treatments will be given, how to manage side effects, and whether or not you will be able to work during your treatments.
