NewsIn memory
Pelé and Colon Cancer: Understanding a Diagnosis the World Followed
Football legend Pelé shared his colon cancer diagnosis in 2021. Here is a calm, plain-language look at colorectal cancer, drawn from the National Cancer Institute.
A plain-language summary based on public reporting and trusted sources, linked below.
Please note: this page is educational only — it is not medical advice, and it does not speculate about anyone’s health beyond reliable public reporting. For questions about your own health, talk with your healthcare team.
What was announced
Al Jazeera reported that Pelé had "a tumour removed from his colon in September 2021." He was admitted to Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo on November 29, 2022, and died there on December 29 at age 82. The hospital gave the cause as "multiple organ failures resulting from the progression of colon cancer."
His daughter Kely Nascimento wrote: "Everything we are is thanks to you. We love you infinitely. Rest in peace."
Nothing more about his treatment was released, and nothing more is claimed here. What follows is about advanced colorectal cancer, the part of this disease that gets far less public explanation than screening does.
Where this cancer goes
Colorectal cancer has a strong preference. StatPearls reports that among tumors that spread, 80% to 90% go to the liver.
The anatomy explains it. Blood leaving the bowel does not go straight back to the heart. It travels through the portal vein into the liver first, so the liver acts as the first filter, and cancer cells lodge there. The lungs are the next most common site.
This is why a scan of the abdomen and chest is standard once colorectal cancer is confirmed, even when a person feels well.
Stage IV is not one situation
Two people can both have stage IV disease and face completely different plans.
Oligometastatic disease means a small number of deposits confined to one organ, usually the liver or the lungs. StatPearls notes these cases may be potentially curable, with surgery to remove the metastases combined with chemotherapy before and after. The intent is cure, not control.
Widespread disease is treated with drugs, with the intent of controlling it for as long as possible and keeping a person feeling well.
Asking which of those two situations applies is the most useful question at a stage IV diagnosis.
The panel of tests that picks the drug
Before choosing systemic therapy, the tumor tissue is profiled. StatPearls lists testing for KRAS and NRAS across several exons, plus BRAF V600E, and separately for MSI-H or dMMR status.
Here is what each answer buys.
RAS and BRAF wild-type, meaning no mutation found, opens the door to anti-EGFR antibodies such as cetuximab. If a RAS mutation is present, those drugs will not work, and an anti-VEGF drug such as bevacizumab is used instead.
MSI-H or dMMR describes a tumor with a broken DNA mismatch repair system. StatPearls notes immunotherapy is approved for these tumors, and responses in this group can be durable. It is a small minority of cases, and it is the reason every metastatic colorectal cancer should be tested.
If you are supporting someone through this, ask whether RAS, BRAF, and MMR testing were all completed, and what each showed.
Which side of the colon it started on
This detail sounds trivial and is not. Tumors on the left side of the colon and tumors on the right behave differently and respond differently.
StatPearls summarizes the rule of thumb: an anti-EGFR agent when the tumor is RAS and BRAF wild-type and left-sided, and an anti-VEGF agent when the tumor is RAS or BRAF mutated, or right-sided.
How far the numbers have moved
The chemotherapy backbones are FOLFOX, FOLFIRI, and CAPOX. They combine a fluoropyrimidine drug with either oxaliplatin or irinotecan.
The trajectory over three decades is worth stating plainly. StatPearls notes that with 5-FU and leucovorin alone, median overall survival in metastatic disease was about 12 months. Adding oxaliplatin and irinotecan pushed it to nearly 24 months. Current combined approaches reach a median of about 36 months, with roughly 20% of patients alive at five years.
That last figure would have been implausible a generation ago. It is still a group statistic describing a study population, not a forecast for anyone.
For context, SEER, the National Cancer Institute's cancer surveillance program, puts five-year relative survival for distant-stage colorectal cancer at 16.9%, against 91.3% when it is caught while still localized. Both come from people diagnosed in 2016 through 2022.
Get help now
If you have colorectal cancer, or are being investigated for it, go to an emergency department for:
- Severe abdominal pain with vomiting and an inability to pass gas or stool, which can mean the bowel is blocked
- Heavy rectal bleeding with dizziness, sweating, or a racing heart
- Yellowing of the eyes or skin, especially with pain under the right ribs
Contact your team within a day or two for:
- New or worsening shortness of breath, or a cough that will not settle
- A swollen, tender belly that is getting larger
- Rapid unplanned weight loss or a sharp drop in energy
Call your team straight away, not in a day or two, if you have a fever of 100.4°F or higher while on chemotherapy. A fever during chemotherapy is treated as an emergency.
The part that is preventable
Everything above describes disease that has already spread. The reason screening gets so much attention is that this cancer usually begins as a polyp, a small growth on the bowel lining, which can be removed before it becomes anything.
CDC states that most people should begin colorectal cancer screening at age 45. Options include colonoscopy every 10 years, a yearly FIT stool test, FIT-DNA every 3 years, CT colonography every 5 years, or flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5 years.
Any of them beats none of them. The best test is the one you will actually complete.
Sources
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Put the story in context
Prevention, possible warning signs, screening, and diagnosis
This story relates to Colorectal cancer. The information below is general: it does not reveal anything else about a public person’s health, and not every point applies to every cancer. Personal advice depends on age, symptoms, family history, exposures, and medical history.
Prevention and risk reduction
Not every cancer can be prevented. Avoiding tobacco, protecting skin from ultraviolet radiation, limiting alcohol, staying active, and receiving recommended HPV or hepatitis B vaccination can lower the risk of certain cancers. A risk factor is not a prediction or a cause in one individual.
Symptoms and possible early signs
Possible signs vary and are often caused by conditions other than cancer. Changes worth discussing include a new lump, unexplained bleeding or weight loss, a persistent cough, lasting bowel or bladder changes, a changing skin spot, or symptoms that persist or worsen. Some early cancers cause no symptoms.
Screening and early detection
Screening looks for certain cancers before symptoms begin. Recommended tests exist only for some cancers and depend on age and risk. Screening can have benefits and harms; it is not the same as evaluating a new symptom, and there is no single routine scan or blood test that reliably screens for every cancer.
How cancer is diagnosed
Diagnosis may involve a history and exam, imaging, laboratory tests, and often a biopsy. Pathology can identify the cancer type and may test biomarkers that guide treatment. Symptoms, screening results, tumor markers, or online stories alone cannot confirm cancer.
Learn about this story’s cancer topic
A public story may encourage questions, but it should not be used to estimate your risk or choose testing. Contact a healthcare professional about a persistent or concerning change. Seek urgent care for severe or rapidly worsening symptoms.