Treatment Options

swapneel
swapneel Member Posts: 3
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi,
My mom was recently diagonosed with Stage IV Colon Cancer with mets to liver. She has multiple tumors on liver. CEA count is 540. She will undergo colon resection on Monday.

The doctors say that the spread on the liver is a big concern and they would start chemo after 15-20 days.

Has anybody here have a similar condition (multiple tumors on liver). What type of chemotherapy would be more effective ? FOLFOX/AVASTIN ? Any help would be greatly appreciated ?

Comments

  • taraHK
    taraHK Member Posts: 1,952 Member
    #2
    Hi. I am sorry to hear about your mom's diagnosis. Wishing her all the best with her upcoming surgery.

    My situation is not the same -- I had stage 3 rectal. My treatment was chemoradiation followed by surgery followed by more chemo. I was all clear for 2 years but recently had a met to my lung. That was surgically removed and now I am on 6 months chemo (FOLFOX). But there are others on this board who have experience with multiple liver mets and I am sure they will pitch in.

    Have the docs discussed any details of the chemo yet? As you probably already know, there are several good chemo regimes for stage 3 and 4. FOLFOX/Avastin is certainly one of them. Her docs should present the various options to you, and they should know which regime would be the most effective for her. Don't be afraid to ask them to provide as much information and evidence as you wish.

    Take care of yourself and best wishes,

    Tara
  • rthornton
    rthornton Member Posts: 346 Member
    #3
    Hi. So sorry to hear about this diagnosis.

    On May 11 I was diagnosed with stage four cancer, two large colon tumors and five liver mets in both lobes of the liver so that liver resection was not an option, so this sounds quite similar to your mom's situation. Well, my CEA count was lower: 55. Had a total colectomy on May 23, they connected the small intestine right up to my rectum inside. The rectum was entirely salvageable, so I guess I was lucky in that regard.

    Now, to treat the liver mets, every two weeks I am admitted to the hospital for three days for a long infusion of 5FU + Oxaliplatin + Avastin, plus a few other drugs to minimize side effects. But those are the cancer fighting drugs. My bloodwork suggests the drugs are working (CEA count has dropped from 55 to 7.6 as of Wednesday), but that's not an conclusive as scans. I get scans after cycle six, and today I am completing cycle five (writing this from my hospital room). I've been lucky with just a few side effects. Until I get those scans, I won't really know how effective this treatment has been. Please feel free to email me through CSN if you have any more specific questions. I will be glad to answer them as well as I can.

    Best wishes,
    Rodney
  • HisJoy
    HisJoy Member Posts: 113
    #4
    rthornton said:

    Hi. So sorry to hear about this diagnosis.

    On May 11 I was diagnosed with stage four cancer, two large colon tumors and five liver mets in both lobes of the liver so that liver resection was not an option, so this sounds quite similar to your mom's situation. Well, my CEA count was lower: 55. Had a total colectomy on May 23, they connected the small intestine right up to my rectum inside. The rectum was entirely salvageable, so I guess I was lucky in that regard.

    Now, to treat the liver mets, every two weeks I am admitted to the hospital for three days for a long infusion of 5FU + Oxaliplatin + Avastin, plus a few other drugs to minimize side effects. But those are the cancer fighting drugs. My bloodwork suggests the drugs are working (CEA count has dropped from 55 to 7.6 as of Wednesday), but that's not an conclusive as scans. I get scans after cycle six, and today I am completing cycle five (writing this from my hospital room). I've been lucky with just a few side effects. Until I get those scans, I won't really know how effective this treatment has been. Please feel free to email me through CSN if you have any more specific questions. I will be glad to answer them as well as I can.

    Best wishes,
    Rodney

    Hey, Rodney! How did treatment go this last time? Are you feeling human again yet?

    They had to withhold FOLFOX this past time because my liver is a mess and they remain concerned about liver mets. I am thinking it is just my liver disease acting up because of all the poison they are running through me.

    My CEA last time was down to .8!!! Yea! I don't get another scan until I get my last 2 treatments, so that should be the beginning of October. I DID get my Avastin only this week, and it still knocked me for a loop - out of breath, nausea, diarrhea, fatigue, and headaches, but I'll not complain about any of these things because it beats the alternative.

    Hope you're feeling well!
    Bonny
  • rthornton
    rthornton Member Posts: 346 Member
    #5
    HisJoy said:

    Hey, Rodney! How did treatment go this last time? Are you feeling human again yet?

    They had to withhold FOLFOX this past time because my liver is a mess and they remain concerned about liver mets. I am thinking it is just my liver disease acting up because of all the poison they are running through me.

    My CEA last time was down to .8!!! Yea! I don't get another scan until I get my last 2 treatments, so that should be the beginning of October. I DID get my Avastin only this week, and it still knocked me for a loop - out of breath, nausea, diarrhea, fatigue, and headaches, but I'll not complain about any of these things because it beats the alternative.

    Hope you're feeling well!
    Bonny

    .8?!?! Now that's a low CEA count!

    Cycle 4 seemed to go better than this last cycle. At least, the day after (the recovery) was much better. But as you say, it's still better than the alternative, so I won't complain.

    Thanks for asking!

    Rodney
  • swapneel
    swapneel Member Posts: 3
    #6
    My mom had a surgery last monday. The surgery went very well and my mother had a full recovery in 6 days. No complications at all. They found 12/15 lymphnodes positive. The next step is chemo that would be administered on the 6th. It is 5FU+Campostor+other drugs. Are there any other scans or anything that needs to be done before the chemo starts ? The onco said 5FU + Campostar is the common start for most chemos and depending on the respose they will try other drugs. is it true ? I have read everywhere that FOLFOX/AVASTIN is the 1st line for metastatic colon cancer.

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