Types of Colorectal and GI Cancer

A diagnosis of GI or colorectal cancer is specific to the part of the body it affects. For instance, if you have cancer of the stomach, you have a type of GI cancer called gastric cancer.

Types of colon, rectal, and GI cancers include:

• Anal cancer affects the anus, where the digestive tract ends and expels waste.
• Bowel cancer occurs in the colon, or the large intestine.
• Colorectal adenocarcinoma affects the cells that line the colon or rectum. This type accounts for about 95 percent of colorectal cancers.
• Colorectal cancer involves both colon and rectal cancers.
• Gallbladder cancer affects the gallbladder — a small sac that collects bile from the liver to aid in digestion.
• Gastric (stomach) cancer occurs in the cells that line the stomach.
• GI carcinoid tumors are slow-growing cancers that affect the neuroendocrine cells of the GI tract.
• Islet cell cancer affects the neuroendocrine cells of the pancreas.
• Rectal cancer starts in the rectum — the last few inches of the large intestine.
• Small intestine cancer forms in the small intestine, the part of the bowel between the stomach and the colon.

Contact Us About Colorectal and GI Cancers

Contact UPMC Hillman Cancer Center about colorectal and GI cancer care by calling 412-647-2811.