This is actually one of the goals in colorectal cancer - organ-sparing treatment options. In particular, using immunotherapies in the neoadjuvant, peri-operative setting has shown tremendous benefit in colorectal cancers. Work done by Myriam Chalabi (Netherlands Cancer Institute) with the NICHE-1 study [0] and Pashtoon Kasi (Cornell) with the NEST-1 study [1] have had tremendous impacts for the up to 15% of patients who have mismatch repair deficient CRC.

[0] https://ascopost.com/issues/october-25-2022/unprecedented-wa... [1] https://www.nyp.org/advances/article/gastroenterology/ongoin...

From what I've heard, surgery to treat hand osteoarthritis is a dying sub-specialty because the drugs are so effective now (and the surgery has never been a very good solution).

I mean there are more maladies that affect the colon and rectum than just colon cancer, so I expect colo-rectal surgeons will survive, if with a decline in positions.