Address of Corresponding Author

Dig Surg 2004;21:344-351 (DOI: 10.1159/000081351)

  Key Words

• Palliation
• Stage 4 cancer
• Colorectal cancer
• Palliative care

  Abstract

Palliative care has appropriately been receiving increased attention in recent years. From the surgeon's standpoint, therapy is considered palliative when resection of all known tumor sites is no longer possible or advisable. Since a cure, as commonly defined, is not possible, the goal of treatment and eventually the success of therapy becomes judged by the control of symptoms and alleviation of suffering. Providing optimal palliative care for the patient with advanced colorectal cancer is a complex and challenging process. The process of providing palliative care may be a departure from the traditional surgical satisfaction derived from the complete excision of a malignancy, but surgeons achieving excellence in palliative care will likely find this a rewarding endeavor.

Copyright © 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel

  Author Contacts

Michael J. Stamos, Professor of Surgery, University of California
Irvine College of Medicine, Chief, Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery
University of California-Irvine Medical Center
101 The City Drive, Building 55, Orange, CA 92868 (USA)
Tel. +1 714 456 8511, Fax +1 714 456 6027, E-Mail mstamos@uci.edu

  Article Information

Published online: October 5, 2004
Number of Print Pages : 8
Number of Figures : 0, Number of Tables : 0, Number of References : 57