Treatments for Colon Cancer Stage 4
What to Expect with Metastatic Tumor

What can you expect with a colon cancer stage 4 diagnosis? What treatments are possible? At 4th stage, the tumor is already metastatic. It would have already spread to distant organs inside your body. It is treated with a combination of treatments such as extensive surgery and chemotherapy. For information about the other stages, check out: Colon Cancer Staging. Type of treatments for colon cancer differ for the 4 stages.

Is stage four or metastatic colon tumor curable with any of the treatments available?

Unfortunately, most cases of metastatic or stage 4 bowel cancer are not curable unlike if it's still at an early stage (either stage 1 or 2).

At the metastatic stage, it has spread further not only to nearby tissues and lymph nodes but also to distant organs such as the liver and the lungs. When it is already metastatic, it is able to go to the liver usually because it is carried by your blood that comes from the intestinal walls and the rectum.

A combination of treatments is necessary not only to try to kill the tumor and prevent its further spread but to also to relieve symptoms or side effects.

What are possible treatments for metastatic or stage 4 colon tumor?

Treatments at stage 4 can vary. Possible types of treatments that your doctor will recommend at the metastatic stage are the following . . .

1. Extensive surgery

Surgery involves re-sectioning of your bowel. The cancerous part of the bowel is removed or cut off and the rest of the healthy sections are joined together.

Surgery is one of the major treatments performed for colon cancer stage 4. But often, it is not enough when it is already metastatic. Surgery is usually recommended to relieve symptoms such as obstruction in the intestines. It can be combined with chemotherapy.

2. Dessication

This is one of the possible treatments in lieu of surgery. It is recommended for those with colon cancer stage 4 who are too weak to undergo surgery.

In dessication, either of the 2 processes to dry out and shrink the metastatic tumor is done:

the use of Argon plasma coagulator.

Again, dessication doesn't cure the metastatic tumor just like the other types of treatments. It only makes the tumor smaller which relieves the symptoms.

Related Article:

Early Signs and Symptoms of Colon Cancer

3. Chemotherapy

This involves one type of chemo drug or a combination of chemo drugs.

Will chemotherapy help the patient with stage 4 or metastatic colon tumor?

If the tumor has invaded only the liver, chemotherapy medicines are administered directly onto the artery that supplies blood to the liver. But at 4th stage, the tumor has definitely moved beyond the liver. At 4th stage, the chemo drugs have no impact on the patient's chance of surviving the disease. Chemotherapy treatment is now useless for such a metastatic tumor.

4. Ablation or burning of the tumor

Burning reduces the size of the metastatic tumor but ablation, just like the other treatments, doesn't kill it. Again, it is done just to relieve the symptoms and make it bearable for the patient.

Radiation and chemo treatments are usually combined and are directly aimed at the organ where the metastatic tumor has moved into.

5. Cryotherapy

Cryotherapy is also called as cryosurgery. It is one of the new treatments that is being evaluated for colorectal tumor. It can be used for internal and external tumors and even precancerous growths. It involves the application of extreme cold to the tumor to kill or destroy it with the use of liquid nitrogen or argon gas.

It can be used together with other treatments such as surgery. The liquid nitrogen or argon gas is delivered through a cryoprobe, which is inserted into the tumor during surgery. It is one of the new treatments for prostate cancer.

For more detailed info about this type of treatment, see Cryosurgery: Questions and Answers

Tumors that develop in the bowel grow slowly. Most don't give warning signs. Thus, it pays to know what causes colon or rectal cancer. And if you think you have the tendency to develop precancerous polyps in your bowel or rectum, be sure that your bowel gets cleaned every often.

See what is colon cleansing and how it can help.

Also, get yourself tested. Don't wait for symptoms such as abdominal pains because they already mean metastatic or colon cancer stage 4.

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Related Information:

Prevention of Colon Cancer and Polyps

Return from Treatments for Colon Cancer Stage 4 to What is Colon Tumor

Return from Treatments for Colon Cancer Stage 4 to Prevention Home

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