While some surgical studies are now reporting five-year survival after surgery to remove colorectal cancer tumors that have spread to the liver of 40 to 60 percent, a review of more general national experience for patients enrolled in Medicare in the United States found lower survival rates.
Among Medicare-enrolled colorectal cancer patients 65 and over who had liver resection, only 26 percent (1 in 4) were alive five years later. Read the rest of this entry »
Combining chemotherapy with Erbitux® (cetuximab) can effectively shrink tumors and enable surgeons to remove formerly unresectable colorectal cancer that has spread to the liver, offering potentially curative treatment. Read the rest of this entry »
Both surgery and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) are used to destroy liver tumors that have spread from colorectal cancer, but which approach is better?
Surgeons at the University of Louisville School of Medicine reviewed all the cases where patients received either surgery only or RFA only in their hospital over the past twelve years. They had over 1,100 cases involving liver tumors during that time, and 192 involved either a single liver surgery or only radiofrequency ablation.
They found the time before cancer came back was considerably shorter for RFA. In addition, cancer returned at the RFA or surgical site more often for RFA, and also recurred more often elsewhere in the liver. Read the rest of this entry »
Patients who received chemotherapy after surgery to remove colorectal cancer that had spread to their liver or lungs had better long-term outcomes than those who only had surgery, according to an analysis that pooled two similar studies.
Two different clinical trials studied chemotherapy after surgical removal of liver or lung metastases due to colorectal cancer. While neither trial was large enough to draw clear conclusions on its own, researchers combined information from both to decide if chemo made a difference for patients. Read the rest of this entry »
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