Patients under 40 appear to have more aggressive liver tumors from colorectal cancer and poorer long-term outcomes.

After surgery to remove the cancer that had spread to their liver, patients who were 40 or younger had poorer overall survival and shorter time until cancer returned.

The percentage of younger patients who were alive without cancer five years later was similar to older patients, which the research team attributed to more aggressive treatment for the young patients, along with repeated surgery.  Read the rest of this entry »

How useful is radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in treating liver metastases from colorectal cancer?

To answer that question, American Society for Clinical Oncology scientists included two C3 advocates, Rob Michelson and Dr. Andrew Guisti, on an expert panel looking at published RFA research.

In appreciation, the panel dedicated their Clinical Evidence Review to Michelson who died in January, 2008.

The Expert Panel wishes to dedicate this Clinical Evidence Review to Rob Michelson, who served as the patient representative at the Panel meeting in October 2007 and passed away early in 2008. His contributions at the meeting and as a reviewer of the first draft were substantive and thought provoking.

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What should you and your doctor talk about if your colon or rectal cancer has spread to your liver?

Deciding on the best way to manage liver metastases from colorectal cancer isn’t easy. It’s best done with the involvement of  multidisciplinary team of doctors and thoughtful discussion with the patient.

In developing the ASCO 2009 Clinical Evidence Review on Radiofrequency Ablation of Hepatic Metastases From Colorectal Cancer, the Expert Panel developed points for patients and physicians to consider during an office visit to learn about treatment options. Read the rest of this entry »

Patients with stage IV colorectal cancer live longer when tumors in their liver can be removed surgically, but not all patients have cancer that can be operated on.

Separating patients with liver tumors from colorectal cancer into three groups according to possible liver resectability, British doctors found a wide variation in both overall survival and progression-free survival three years later. Read the rest of this entry »

Chemotherapy and Erbitux® (cetuximab) reduced liver tumors from colorectal cancer enough for patients to have them removed surgically.

Although their cancer was initially too extensive to be surgically removed (resected) chemotherapy combined with Erbitux allowed about a third of patients to have surgery that completely removed all visible signs of liver tumors.  Tumor shrinkage occured in about two out of three patients, despite which chemotherapy was used.

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