Your physician will recommend a treatment options according to how far the cancer has advanced and other factors. Think carefully about the choices you have. Local excision removes superficial cancers, along with a small amount of nearby tissue, from the rectum's inner layer. Local full thickness resection removes cancers that have grown beyond the rectum's inner layer. Electrofulguration destroys a cancer by burning it with electrical current.
Surgeons use LA resection for cancers near the upper part of the rectum, close to the colon.
After LA resection, surgeons attach the colon to the anus and waste is eliminated in the usual way. Surgeons use AP resection for cancer in the rectum's lower part, close to its outer connection to the anus. After AP resection, a colostomy is needed. A colostomy is an opening in the front of the abdomen used for elimination of body wastes after part of or the entire rectum has been removed. Another surgical procedure, a pelvic exenteration, removes the rectum, as well as nearby organs such as the bladder, prostate, or uterus when the cancer has spread to these organs.