Team Approach and Advanced Treatment Options Help Patients with Colorectal Cancer
Hepatic Artery Infusion Therapy
For patients who qualify, a pump approximately the size of a hockey puck implanted just below the skin can administer chemotherapy directly into the liver. The advantages of this form of treatment are:
- Higher tumor response rate
- Delayed tumor progression
- Increased survival rate
- Reduced side effects
- Enhanced quality of life
Updated March 2004 — If you or someone you love is affected by colorectal metastasis to the liver, do not lose hope. Advanced treatment options are available.
“In colorectal cancer, the liver is often the first site of spread,” says Ihor Pidhorecky, MD, surgical oncologist on the medical staff at Memorial Regional Hospital, Memorial Hospital West and Memorial Hospital Pembroke. “To treat metastasis to the liver, there are a number of options available that may control or cure the disease. Depending upon the patient, one or a combination of treatments may be used.”
Comprehensive Expertise
Applying a team approach to patient care, the Memorial Comprehensive Cancer Program draws upon the expertise of gastroenterologists, radiologists, radiation oncologists, surgical oncologists, pathologists and medical oncologists in the treatment of colorectal metastasis to the liver.
“Metastasis to the liver from colorectal cancer is most often treated with surgery,” says Dr. Pidhorecky. “The affected section of the liver is removed, and over time, the liver will regenerate the resected portion. Thanks to improvements in surgical technology, patients who undergo surgery rarely require blood infusion during surgery and experience shortened hospital stays up to seven days.”
When Surgery Is Not an Option
According to Dr. Pidhorecky, other treatment options are available for patients who are not candidates for surgery due to the condition of the liver (cirrhosis) or if the tumor involves multiple areas of the liver.
“We are able to use radio waves to heat a tumor to a high temperature so that the tumor is destroyed. This procedure, radiofrequency ablation, keeps the tumor growth from progressing while sparing normal liver tissue,” says Dr. Pidhorecky. Radiofrequency ablation is also used to treat kidney, lung, breast, soft tissue and bone tumors.
Embolization, a fairly new treatment method, can be used to shut down blood vessels that feed a growing tumor, causing it to die. All tumors need a rich supply of blood to continue growing. Materials to block the blood supply are released through a catheter into the vessels that feed the tumor. After embolization, a tumor may grow much more slowly or even shrink. Both radiofrequency ablation and embolization can control the growth of tumors without surgery.
Advances in Chemotherapy
Advances in chemotherapy medications and delivery methods continue to improve patient care.
“Over the last several years, the FDA has approved new chemotherapy drugs such as CPT-11 and Oxaliplatin,” says Ney Alves, MD, hematologist and oncologist on the medical staff at Memorial Regional Hospital. “These drugs, combined with new delivery methods and surgery, have produced steady increases in survival rates.”
Hepatic artery infusion therapy (HAI) uses an implanted pump approximately the size of a hockey puck to deliver chemotherapy directly into the liver, while minimizing the side effects to the rest of the body. This allows for high doses to be administered at a constant rate.
“Because liver metastases from colorectal cancer derive more than 80 percent of their blood supply from the hepatic artery, hepatic arterial infusion is well suited as an alternative treatment, or it can be used in combination with systemic (traditional) chemotherapy for the treatment of liver tumors,” says Dr. Alves.
For referral to a physician, call the Memorial Physician Referral Service at (800) 944-DOCS.