Has anyone had a colonoscopy while taking Avastin?

lisa42

I have not had another colonoscopy since my initial diagnosis in Aug. '07. I had a sigmoidoscopy in March '08, which was good, but haven't had anything since then. Two out of three oncologists I've consulted with told me as long as I'm on Avastin, I can't get a colonoscopy done. I'm still on Avastin every other week as part of my maintenance program, along with taking Xeloda. I've had Ct's and PET scans, but not an actual colonoscopy. The one oncologist said I could get it done as long as they didn't biopsy anything if anything was found (due to the possible threat of bleeding from the Avastin). The other two oncologists said not to get it done. One of the oncologists is one I no longer go to, the second is one I've consulted with, and the third is my new oncologist (whom I've only met one time so far & will have an appt. with again on Tuesday). They said I should only get it done if I stop the Avastin for six weeks first, but I'm afraid to do that, considering the last time I went off chemo entirely for 4 months, I had nodules growing with "intense uptake" back in my lungs and in my liver.

I'm just wondering if it seems common to the rest of you to never have had any kind of follow up colonoscopy in my two years of treatment since diagnosis. Note: I never did have a colon/rectal resection surgery, as my rectal tumor shrunk away with the radiation I had a year and a half ago. The colorectal specialist said she'd want to watch the rectum (where I had the original tumor) carefully. If nothing shows up in my rectum or colon on my CT or PET scans, do you think a colonoscopy is still needed?

Any thoughts or input would be appreciated-

Thanks,
Lisa

serrana

has anyone had a colonoscopy while taking avastin
Hi Lisa
Serrana here. My onc at USC and my rectal surgeon at UCI both said no colonoscopy while on Avastin.......to wait 6 weeks minimum for fear of perforation bleeding etc. I guess it comes down to the comparative risks.....being off Avastin or not having a colo.
The purpose of a colo is to find the PRE=cancerous polyps and get them out of there before they become malignant. Rectal cancer folks have a higher chance of recurrence than colon cancer folks but you know from your scans there isn't anything down there that lites up So that comes down to the question does Dr. Helton think the risk of a vacation from Avastin is ok for you to get any polyp that might be lurking which wouldn't show up on a CT or a PET.
I would go with what Dr Helton and Dr Fanta recommend on this one and if they disagree have them hash it out with each other.
Hope those scans turn out good this week.
Serrana
PS I have had a colo every year since I was diagnosed but it was when I wasn't on chemo.