Rectal Cancer Care - Mayo Clinic

Our colorectal surgeons regularly perform highly complex procedures for rectal cancer and are consistently ranked as high performing in GI surgery, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Experts in innovation. Our surgeons have extensive experience using the latest techniques, including robotic and minimally invasive surgery, intraoperative radiation therapy for recurrent cancers, and pouch surgery.
From inoperable to operable. We offer advanced procedures not available elsewhere. People who had been told their disease was inoperable have successful surgical outcomes at Mayo Clinic.
A unique approach for advanced tumors. Mayo Clinic is one of the few institutions offering synchronous cancer treatment, removing tumors from multiple organs in a single operation. This innovative approach streamlines treatment for people with advanced tumors.
Hope for liver metastases. We offer the latest options for rectal cancer that spreads to the liver, including hepatic artery infusion pump. Delivering chemotherapy directly to your liver can prevent tumor recurrence or shrink tumors to allow for curative surgery. This innovation is offering hope for a longer life to more people.

Experience seamless care from our team of expert surgeons, oncologists, gastroenterologists and more. Together, they collaborate to provide a swift and accurate diagnosis, ensuring efficient treatment. What might take months elsewhere is often achieved in mere days at Mayo Clinic.

At Mayo Clinic, your care is customized to minimize hospital stays, reduce complication rates and expedite recovery time, while ensuring optimal quality-of-life outcomes. Expect cutting-edge practices like molecular profiling of tumors through next-generation sequencing and screening for potential immunotherapy options as standard components of our colorectal cancer care.

Mayo Clinic is ranked among the best hospitals for cancer, gastroenterology and GI surgery in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report. Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center is a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center with three locations. This esteemed designation means we are driving the future of groundbreaking research, clinical trial access and innovative therapies.

Improving treatment options for rectal cancer

It's very rare that I see a patient who has a truly unresectable tumor. The most common experience I have with patients is that they come here scared because they don't know what the plan is. There are some patients that are told locally that surgery is not an option. For some of those patients with multidisciplinary effort, surgery for potential cure may be an option. For rectal cancer patient, there is no single treatment plan fits everyone. And we have to individualized treatment plan based on the clinical presentation, the image finding the disease stage, and more importantly, the patient preference. It's really unmatched across the United States to have that kind of itinerary where you can see your radiation oncologists and your surgeon and your medical oncologist all on a singular day. At our multidisciplinary rectal cancer clinic, each of our specialists have extensive experience intreating rectal cancer. We review patients information ahead of time. Our medical oncology colleagues, radiation oncology surgeons all review the case that very day and then collectively see the patient providing them a plan. Treating rectal cancer has been evolving constantly over the years. And we know that changing the chemo treatment backbone using the new radiation modality and the newer novel surgical technology, all help improve treating this disease more successfully.

Rectal cancer is a very complex operation for most patients, and we have one of the largest rectal cancer practices in the world. We're really leaders in minimally invasive surgery and robotics leading many first in human trials, which is really practice leading from the surgical point of view. It's proven to result in shorter hospital stays for patients and lower complication rates. And we're using interoperative radiation treatment as an additional tool to help make unresectable tumors resectable. It allows us to keep healthy organs outside of the area that we're treating. The colorectal surgeons in collaboration with urologic surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, gynecologic surgeons can perform complex surgeries that may not be possible at other institutions. It truly is a union of forces. We collectively create unique opportunities for every patient, tailoring it to just what they need to both cure and survive their cancers.

Unmatched Expertise in Rectal Cancer Treatment: Hope at Mayo Clinic

World-class surgical care.

Comprehensive care for your best outcome.

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Improving treatment options for rectal cancer

Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center is designated by the National Cancer Institute as a comprehensive cancer center.

Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center is nationally accredited by the American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer (CoC).