11 Review Article Page 1 of 11 Current management and controversies in management of T4 cancers of the colon—a narrative review of the literature Rathin Gosavi1^, Alexander G. Heriot2,3^, Satish K. Warrier1,2,3^ 1Department of Colorectal Surgery, Alfred Health, Prahran, Victoria, Australia; 2Division of Colorectal Cancer Surgery, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; 3Department of Colorectal Surgery, Epworth Freemasons Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Contributions: (I) Conception and design: SK Warrier, R Gosavi; (II) Administrative support: R Gosavi; (III) Provision of study materials or patients: SK Warrier; (IV) Collection and assembly of data: R Gosavi; (V) Data analysis and interpretation: R Gosavi, SK Warrier; (VI) Manuscript writing: All authors; (VII) Final approval of manuscript: All authors. Correspondence to: Satish K. Warrier, MBBS, MS, BSC (Med), FRACS. Department of Colorectal Surgery, Alfred Health, Prahran, Victoria, Australia; Division of Colorectal Cancer Surgery, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Department of Colorectal Surgery, Epworth Freemasons Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Email:
[email protected]. Abstract: Colorectal cancer is the third most common malignancy and represents the third most likely cause of cancer related deaths worldwide with approximately 10% of patients with locally advanced colon cancer (LACC) presenting with peritoneal involvement (T4a) or invasion of adjacent organs (T4b) at the time of diagnosis. Accurate pre-operative staging is paramount, and while CT and MRI scans are useful in identifying lymph nodal involvement and distant metastasis, there is an inherent inability to accurately differentiate true invasion from the simple, inflammatory adherence to the neighbouring structures with these existing imagining modalities.