Gastrointestinal Cancer

Digestive cancer specialists at NewYork-Presbyterian are experts in the care of patients with cancers of the esophagus, pancreas, gallbladder, stomach, liver, colon, rectum, and anus.

Screening, diagnosis, and treatment of these cancers vary depending on the type and stage. Our team will assess your cancer and customize a plan of care tailored to your individual needs.

World-Recognized Leaders in Cancer Care

We are home to two of the nation's leading cancer centers: the National Cancer Institute-designated Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center of New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center (one of only four comprehensive cancer centers in New York State) and the Weill Cornell Medicine Meyer Cancer Center in Partnership with NewYork-Presbyterian.

Your Own Treatment Team

NewYork-Presbyterian attracts nationally recognized gastroenterologists, surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, interventional radiologists, genetic specialists, and researchers. Your customized team has extraordinary experience and compassion caring for people with digestive cancers. We believe in a collaborative approach, with regular team meetings to ensure that you have the benefit of every physician’s opinion regarding your treatment planning.

Screening and Genetic Counseling

Some cancers, such as colorectal cancer, can be found in their earliest or even precancerous stages through screening techniques such as colonoscopy. NewYork-Presbyterian offers screening tests, as well as genetic counseling for people whose family medical history suggests they have an increased risk of a digestive cancer. Our genetic counselors can assess your risk and help you make an informed decision about reducing your risk and the risk in your family members.

Advanced Treatment for Every Type of Digestive Cancer

We offer minimally invasive and reconstructive digestive tract surgery, state-of-the art chemotherapy drugs and targeted agents, advanced radiation therapy, and interventional oncology techniques to stage cancer and relieve obstructions.

The Latest Technologies and Advanced Techniques

We are at the forefront of developing or adopting new endoscopic and surgical techniques for the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers.

• Through the Minimally Invasive New Technologies (MINT) program, our surgeons are redefining intestinal surgery with the new endoluminal surgical platform. Procedures that once required open or laparoscopic surgery can be done completely internally, with no exterior incisions and improved healing time.
• Our academic medical centers were the first in New York City to perform both left and right fully robotic hepatectomies using advanced instruments.
• Our surgeons pioneered combined endoscopic-laparoscopic surgery (CELS) to remove complex or hard-to-reach polyps in the colon.
• Our advanced endoscopists are pairing upper GI endoscopy with optical coherence tomography (OCT) for the surveillance and diagnosis of esophageal cancer and its precursor disorder, Barrett’s esophagus. Once we detect cancer, we can use a range of minimally invasive endoscopic techniques, including endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR), endoscopic submucosal dissection, radiofrequency ablation (RFA), cryoablation, and other techniques.
• NewYork-Presbyterian was an early adopter of heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) to treat a range of abdominal cancers, including stomach and colon cancers. An advanced technique requiring the collaboration of surgeons and oncologists, heated chemotherapy solution is applied after all visible tumors are removed from the abdominal cavity to destroy any remaining cancer cells.
• NewYork-Presbyterian is one of the few Centers with the capability of intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) to target advanced colorectal tumors.
• We are one amongst only a handful of centers across the world able to perform continent ileostomy procedures to avoid an external ostomy appliance.

State-of-the-Art Facilities

We provide your cancer care in modern, comfortable infusion centers and radiation therapy units, using advanced equipment and technologies.

Special Expertise in Advanced Disease

We offer a specialized, multidisciplinary program for patients whose cancer has metastasized to other organs. We are also pioneering a program to treat the after effects of complicated surgeries, such as incontinence problems following colorectal surgery.

Treating All of You

To support your quality of life during your journey with cancer, we offer palliative care, which includes services such as pain management. Our nutritionists, social workers, rehabilitation therapists, palliative care experts, and others will help you and your loved ones address the effects of cancer and its treatment — physical, emotional, and spiritual. We understand the burden cancer can place on your life and the lives of your loved ones, and we do whatever we can to lessen that burden.

Specialists and Subspecialists in Every Area

At NewYork-Presbyterian, we treat the whole person. You'll have access to the full resources at our top-ranked academic medical centers, including specialists from all areas who collaborate with our cancer experts to provide comprehensive care. This collaboration makes NewYork-Presbyterian an excellent choice for people with digestive cancers.

Clinical Trials of Promising New Treatments

With two major academic medical centers, NewYork-Presbyterian physicians lead and participate in clinical trials for all types of digestive cancers. These studies offer you access to investigational therapies that show promise for fighting your cancer. Scientists in our laboratories are also scrutinizing the intricacies of digestive cancer development and applying their findings to create better therapies.