Colon cancer is one of the highest-yield topics on the Surgery Shelf and Step 2 Clinical Knowledge – and one of the easiest places to lose points on subtle traps. This episode walks you through exactly how exam writers expect you to think, so you can move faster and more confidently on test day.

In this episode, Chris and Mars break down colon cancer from the ground up: how it presents, how to work it up, when to operate, and how to avoid the sneaky pitfalls that separate pass from honors. You will finally lock in the difference between right-sided and left-sided colon cancers (think anemia versus obstruction), understand why Streptococcus bovis bacteremia is never “just” endocarditis, and remember when CEA actually matters.

If you want colon cancer questions to feel automatic instead of stressful, this episode is your playbook. Listen in, review the algorithms, and get ready to crush every colon cancer vignette that shows up on your Surgery Shelf.