In patients with mCRC the goals of therapy are to prevent symptoms attributable to the disease or its treatment, improve the patient's quality of life, and extend the patient's life to the degree possible. The current management of mCRC focuses on the use of different active drugs, with varied mechanisms of action, either in combination or as single agents. The choice of therapy is based on several factors, such as goals of therapy, the type and timing of prior therapy, the toxicity profiles of constituent drugs, and the potential for surgical management. In general, surgical procedures in patients with metastatic disease are performed only to remove metastases, relieve colon obstruction, or to address significant bleeding, bowel perforation, or other significant tumor-related symptoms.