Using Chemo to Downsize Unresectable Liver Mets?

[Rick & June Smith-Sta]

Hi Everyone,

Rick was diagnosed with Stage IV CC on October 5, 2005. Seems he had lots of mets in/on his liver - which made resecting them impossible during the initial diagnosis period. He had his colon (the primary tumor) resected, and everything seemed to go well as far as healing in that department. Rick's first line treatment has been Xeloda tablets (1800 mg in morning and 1800 mg in evening - 14 days on - 7 days off) plus Oxaliplatin injections (every 21 days) plus Avastin injections (every 14 days). His liver was very hard and physically sticking out of his belly/rib cage when we finally started the chemo on November 15th, 2005. Now, his liver is soft and small, and he is even able to run 3 miles a couple of times per week like he used to. He is a little tired, but I don't think that means his cancer is getting worse. He has his first follow-up CAT scan this Tuesday.

My question is - I have been hearing a lot about people who were told that the CC mets in their livers were unresectable - but then, through the use of the newer chemo drugs (like Oxaliplatin and Avastin) - the tumors were downsized enough to allow for a successful liver resection.

Has anyone out there been through this? We are hoping this is more common than not - because we obviously want to be able to go this route if it becomes avaialbe to us.

Thanks,

June and Rick Smith

[Guest]

NOt sure if he will become resectable or not. I have colon cancer with liver mets. I had 4 to 5 tumors on my liver that were very small but spread out. I go to Sloan Kettering in NY and they talked about a liver resection right away and said it would be my best chance of survival. After my inital Colon Resection surgery I went on Chemo for four months to shrink the tumors Avaistan/Oxiplation 5 fu. In July of 2006 I had the Liver Resection and they took 75% of my Liver and implanted a hepatic atery pump which I receive chemo to every 3 weeks and systemic to the port every 2. It turned out 2 tumors were cancer but again very small less than a centimeter each. Dr. Jarnagan was my surgeon he was wonderful. You can look him up on their site I am sure there is information on Liver Resections there also. Recovery has been pretty difficult. I am still on Chemo hoping to be finished by March. I hope this helps. Sending good thoughts your way any questions feel free. Good Luck Eileen

[Dot]

Hi guys;

My husband Bob was diagnosed with stage IV CC with mets to his liver in Oct 05. He had surgery to remove his rt colon and repair his duodenum. There are 2 tumors in his liver. He could not start chemo till he healed from surgery which took him extra time because he needed a second surgery in Nov 05 which opened him all the way so he had to heal very slowly from the inside out. Anyway he finally started Chemo Dec 14th. 5FU. Lecuovorin, Oxalipliatin. They would not start avastin until he was fully healed. He got his 1st dose of Avastin Feb 1st. After 1 dose his liver tests showed a remarkable improvement. The plan is to shrink down the tumors in the liver so he can have a resection. But, they have warned us that he may not be able to have a resection if the tumors are in the liver too deeply and involve the liver's own blood supply. They cannot take out the liver's blood supply cause then the liver would die. The original surgeon said she felt the tumors on the liver and think that they are on the edge of the liver. Hopefully they can shrink them enough so they can be cut out without taking too much liver with them. They will take some liver tissue to make sure that get "clean margins" which means that they have a layer of tissue beyond the tumor that does not have any cancer cells. The liver does regenerate a little. They said he cannot have radiation to the liver because it would kill the good tissue in the liver. Before starting Avastin his ct scans showed no tumors anywhere else in the body but the liver tumors did not grow or decrease in size. They say he is to have 6 months of chemo before any surgery would be possible. He gets his chemo every other week. Hope this info helps. Don't give up & keep up the fight.

Dot

[Guest]

I was stage 4 feb 2005 with 8 spots in my liver all spread out.They were not resectable at the time but after 4 months of folfour. I had 3 cut out one on one side two on another and rfa to the five in the middle that were not resectable. then 2 more months of chemo and now just avastin every other week and I am tumor free at this time. Good luck never give up hope

[rthornton]

Hi. I was diagnosed last May with two large colon tumors, seven liver mets, and one lung met. The colon was removed, but the liver was considered inoperable because the mets were on both lobes of the liver. We started chemotherapy after the colon resection: 5FU, Avastin, and Oxaliplatin. After six treatments I was in total remission ... no evidence of any disease.

There are more specifics to this story. Feel free to email me at rthornton@Joimail.com if you want more details.

Best wishes,
Rodney