Patient With Persistent Bowel Irregularity Progresses To Advanced Colon Cancer

This case involves a 32-year old male patient with persistent symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. The patient had a colonoscopy which revealed a polyp in his colon but pathology never investigated if it was pre-cancerous. For 3 years, the patient complained to his primary care physician of abdominal pain and bowel irregularities, but the physician never referred him for additional treatment or to another specialist. The patient was suffering extreme bouts of constipation and had another colonoscopy. He was found to have stage III colon cancer with metastasis to his liver and appendix. An expert in gastrointestinal oncology was sought to opine on the standard of care for treating patients who repeatedly present with these symptoms.

Question(s) For Expert Witness

1. How often do you treat patients with colon cancer?

2. How does the treatment and prognosis change with the increasing stage at which colon cancer is caught?

Expert Witness Response E-009903

I am a board-certified surgical oncologist with extensive experience evaluating and treating patients with cancer of the gastrointestinal system, the stomach, the colon, the pancreas, and the liver. I am an assistant professor of surgery at a large northeastern research university and my research focuses on predictors of outcomes in patients with gastrointestinal cancer. I have co-authored more than 70 publications and have lectured extensively around the world. I teach surgery and surgical oncology to 100 general surgery residents per year and approximately 100 medical students per year. I perform more than 150 cancer operations per year, most of which involve removing the stomach, pancreas, liver, colon, or combination of the above. I see approximately 50-70 cases of colon cancer a year. I have published extensively in the field of colon cancer and metastatic colon cancer to the liver.