A study from Memorial Sloan Kettering recently showed that patients who have stage IV disease, which means spread to other organs, don’t need to undergo surgery immediately. If the tumor does not cause problems such as obstruction or bleeding, patients appear to do better to start with chemotherapy right away without delay because of the surgery. Read the rest of this entry »
No Need to Do Surgery Immediately for Patients with Advanced Colon Cancer
Posted by on November 5th, 2009
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Repeat Surgery for CRC Lung Mets Successful
Posted by on October 30th, 2009
Patients who have had one operation to remove lung tumors that have spread from cancer in their colon or rectum can have good outcomes with a second and even third lung surgery. Read the rest of this entry »
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Primary Colorectal Tumors Can Be Safely Left in Place
Posted by on June 7th, 2009
When cancer has spread beyond the colon or rectum, the primary colorectal tumor can safely be left in place with only rare complications.
Surgeons at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York followed 233 patients who began chemotherapy without surgery to remove their primary colon or rectal tumor. Almost 90 percent never had a problem with their tumor that needed intervention with surgery, radiation, or a stent. Only 7 percent required emergency surgery. Read the rest of this entry »
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Hope for Everyone on Easter
Posted by on April 16th, 2009
I have shared some inspiring stories with you of patients in my practice who I think are examples of how colon cancer therapies have changed. Today when patients walk into my practice with metastases only in liver or lungs, I know that I can cure some of them. The way we look at these patients has completely changed. Read the rest of this entry »
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Intense Combination Chemotherapy Enables Surgery for Initially Unresectable Colorectal Mets
Posted by on March 3rd, 2009
Treated with a combination of three chemotherapy drugs, 1 in 5 patients whose colorectal cancer had spread too far for surgery were able to have operations to remove metastatic tumors. After five years, a third of them were alive with no sign of cancer.
Doctors in Italy treated 200 stage IV patients with a combination of 5-FU, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan (FOLFOXIRI) during three different clinical trials. While all three drugs are commonly used to treat colorectal cancer, they are not usually used at the same time. Initially, all of the patients had cancer that had spread beyond the possibility of having it removed surgically. Read the rest of this entry »
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