Colon cancer is cancer that forms in the tissues of the colon, which is the longest part of the large intestine. It is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer in both women and men in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute. Stage III colon cancer is also known as Dukes C colon cancer.
Stage III A
Stage III A colon cancer consists of cancer that has progressed beyond the innermost layer of the wall of the colon to the middle layers, as well as three or less lymph nodes.
Stage III B
This diagnosis is made when the cancer has spread to up to three nearby lymph nodes and past the middle layers of the wall of the colon to nearby tissues around the rectum or colon or past the colon wall to nearby organs or the peritoneum, which is the abdominal wall lining.
Stage III C
In this substage, the cancer is in four or more adjacent lymph nodes, and has also spread to or past the middle layers of the colon wall, to tissues that are close to the rectum or colon or to organs that are close by and/or through the lining of the abdominal wall.
Treatment
For Stage III colon cancer, standard treatment is typically surgery followed by chemotherapy, according to the American Cancer Society. Radiation may be given in some cases as well.
Prognosis
The five-year survival rate, meaning the percentage of patients alive five years after diagnosis, for Stage III colon cancer ranges from 83 percent to 44 percent, depending on the substage, according to the American Cancer Society.
