Radiologists at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Texas have found that conformal radiotherapy (CRT) to the largest (dominant) liver metastasis can control cancer progression for several months.
Reviewing records of 17 patients with colorectal cancer that had spread to the liver and who were treated with conformal radiotherapy, they found median time to progression after treatment were:
- 6.8 months for the tumor that was radiated
- 3.1 months for tumors in the liver outside the field of radiation
- 4.1 months for tumors outside of the liver
Dominant liver tumors had a median size of 10 centimeters, and 71% of patients had evidence of cancer outside the liver. Surgical resection was impossible. In addition, patients had already received a median of 2 chemotherapy regimens.
Overall survival time after radiotherapy was 12.6 months.
Most patients were also receiving chemotherapy including celecoxib (Celebrex®) and capecitabine (Xeloda®).
Side effects included diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, hand-foot syndrome, and low white cell counts — none of which were severe.
The researchers, who reported their study in the December 2006 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Oncology concluded:
Conformal RT to the dominant liver metastasis as palliative therapy for unresectable colorectal cancer liver metastases has an acceptable toxicity profile and may improve survival. This approach merits further exploration.
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