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Objectives  To determine which aspects of the treatment decision process, therapy and outcomes are most important to patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

Design  Cross‐sectional survey.

Participants  A total of 102 men and 73 women who had completed primary treatment for CRC in two teaching hospitals in Central Sydney, Australia.

Main outcomes measures  Patient's rating of the importance of the decision‐making aspects and outcomes of treatment for CRC.

Results  Trust in their surgeon and confidence of specialty training are of paramount importance to CRC patients. Patients also have a strong desire to get on with treatment quickly and rate the risk of disease recurrence and quality of life as being very important in their treatment decisions. Gender, age and whether the patient had undergone adjuvant radiotherapy were all significant predictors of preferred mode of treatment decision‐making. Fifty …