 Hello, I am Dr. Kakoli Lahkar, Consul general medical oncologist in Manipal Hospital, Bangalore. Colon cancer is divided into four stages. First and second are considered as early stages. Third stage is locally advanced and the fourth stage is advanced on metastatic stage. The treatment of colon cancer depends on the particular stage. Prior to treatment, every patient needs to undergo a colonoscopy, a biopsy, and preferably a scan to determine the exact stage. Once the stage is determined, he or she is prepared for a surgery from stage 1 to stage 3. Surgery remains the main stage of treatment in the first, second and third stages. And chemotherapy is added usually in some cases in the second stage and in all cases in the third stage. The fourth stage is advanced stage, the main stage of treatment in the fourth stage is chemotherapy. Even though most cases in fourth stage are incurable, even then around 10-11% of cases in fourth stage can be cured with surgery and a combination of chemotherapy and targeted therapy. Even if most cases in stage 4 are not curable, still a long-term survival can be achieved nowadays with adequate chemotherapy and monoclonal antibody or targeted therapy or immunotherapy. So even in fourth stage, there is hope for a long life.