Over the last decade, surgical management of colon cancer became more individualized due to new preoperative, surgical and oncological strategies. Recent high-level evidence demonstrated a favorable impact of these advanced concepts, which require proper planning and challenging surgical management form a technical standpoint, on cancer-specific survival. To tailor the best strategy, cases have to be discussed in multidisciplinary tumor boards with specialists in medical oncology, radiology, gastroenterology and pathology. In this review, these innovations are summarized within their scientific context, with focus on new strategies of preoperative bowel preparation, neoadjuvant chemotherapy and technical aspects, to illustrate the complexity of current colon cancer management.