Colon And Liver Cancer
Published on Mar 20 2010, in the categories: Useful INfo
Liver cancer is more and more frequent these days. In most cases, it follows cirrhosis, the disease which may be caused by hepatitis C. However, liver cancer in 90 percent of the cases develops because of cirrhosis and liver diseases, which can be considered as a pre-cancerous condition. If alcoholism is the most known factor of cirrhosis, hepatitis C is the leading cause of this disease. From 100 people infected with hepatitis C, 20 develop cirrhosis and 30% of them degenerate in liver cancer.
However, the major inconvenience of cirrhosis and liver cancer is that it remains long time asymptomatic, which brings a late diagnosis and reduces the odds of early treatment that can be curative. So, the goal is to prevent the disease or to detect it early, to be able to prevent the tumor form growing. Liver cancer treatments depend on the tumor stage, its aggressiveness, the number of cancerous nodules, the exact location of the tumor and the patient age. The most common treatments are liver transplantation, the surgical removal of the affected part of the liver or the killing of the cancer cells with interventions and medications. Anyway, these treatments are not yet applicable to 75% of the patients, and that is way very often chemoembolization needs to be made. Chemoembolization means that molecules are injected into the hepatic artery chemotherapy and gels to be able to block the artery, and so prevent the tumor vascularization. Without blood vessels that irrigate the area of liver cancer cells can not survive.
Another way of developing liver cancer is to get it from colon cancer. How is that possible is not difficult to answer. When colon cancer has already reached its fourth stage of evolution, the disease spreads to other organs of the body and the most common ones that are affected are the liver and the lungs. That is way colon and liver cancer is found is the same patient. In this faze of the disease, medical intervention on the tumor that has been found in the liver can be done. However, this is not a guarantee that the disease will be stopped from growing. Other tumors in the liver can be developed. That is way treatment has to regard firstly the cure of colon cancer, which is in this case, the cause of the liver metastases.
Colon and liver cancer patients have a small chance of survival, but they are not impossible to be cured. Patients with hepatic or liver metastases have a five-year survival rate of 20 to 30%. If you are diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer, that has affected the liver, you have to be sure that your doctor suggests you the best treatment for your condition and so you will be able to grow your life prognoses with years, not days or months.
However, the major inconvenience of cirrhosis and liver cancer is that it remains long time asymptomatic, which brings a late diagnosis and reduces the odds of early treatment that can be curative. So, the goal is to prevent the disease or to detect it early, to be able to prevent the tumor form growing. Liver cancer treatments depend on the tumor stage, its aggressiveness, the number of cancerous nodules, the exact location of the tumor and the patient age. The most common treatments are liver transplantation, the surgical removal of the affected part of the liver or the killing of the cancer cells with interventions and medications. Anyway, these treatments are not yet applicable to 75% of the patients, and that is way very often chemoembolization needs to be made. Chemoembolization means that molecules are injected into the hepatic artery chemotherapy and gels to be able to block the artery, and so prevent the tumor vascularization. Without blood vessels that irrigate the area of liver cancer cells can not survive.
Another way of developing liver cancer is to get it from colon cancer. How is that possible is not difficult to answer. When colon cancer has already reached its fourth stage of evolution, the disease spreads to other organs of the body and the most common ones that are affected are the liver and the lungs. That is way colon and liver cancer is found is the same patient. In this faze of the disease, medical intervention on the tumor that has been found in the liver can be done. However, this is not a guarantee that the disease will be stopped from growing. Other tumors in the liver can be developed. That is way treatment has to regard firstly the cure of colon cancer, which is in this case, the cause of the liver metastases.
Colon and liver cancer patients have a small chance of survival, but they are not impossible to be cured. Patients with hepatic or liver metastases have a five-year survival rate of 20 to 30%. If you are diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer, that has affected the liver, you have to be sure that your doctor suggests you the best treatment for your condition and so you will be able to grow your life prognoses with years, not days or months.
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