Standard Treatment Stage II rectal cancer is highly treatable and often curable. There are several options for treatment, including: • Removal of a wide margin of tissue and reconnection of the bowel to the rectum (anastomosis) when the tumor is in the upper rectum. • The same surgical procedure followed by chemotherapy and radiation therapy , which has shown an increased disease-free survival compared with surgery alone or surgery and radiation. 5-FU and radiation can improve remission and prolong survival. • Continuous-infusion 5-FU chemotherapy together with radiation therapy, especially for high-risk Stage II and Stage III cancers. • An abdominal perineal resection and colostomy , with or without adjuvant radiation and chemotherapy, for tumors near the anus. • Those with B2 tumors will benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy if they have features that point to a recurrence (abnormal chromosomes by DNA analysis, invasion of the outside wall, perforation, adhesion to organs or invasion of adjacent organs). • For B3 lesions, the pelvic organs (bladder, uterus or prostate) may be removed (pelvic exenteration) when that is necessary to remove all the cancer, with or without adjuvant chemotherapy. • Adding postoperative radiation and chemotherapy will reduce pelvic recurrences and improve chances of survival (there is 25 to 30 percent chance of local recurrence with this stage).