chemoemobilization
chemoemobilization
Has anyone had this procedure done to treat liver mets? I'm scheduled for it this upcoming Tuesday.
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Re: chemoemobilization
Andrea wrote:Has anyone had this procedure done to treat liver mets? I'm scheduled for it this upcoming Tuesday.
Hi Andrea,
Obviously I haven't had this b/c I am not a survivor, but I have learned a little bit about it in the last few months. I wish I could give more specifics of how it will affect you. I don't know how much you already know, so I'll just give a quick overview so that everyone kind of knows what this is.
Chemoembolization is a way to deliver chemo directly into your liver using a catheter that goes into a blood vessel. It is used to deliver a greater concentration of chemo directly to the liver, which means more chemo to the tumor with less chemo to the rest of the body (and hopefully less severe side effects).
The procedure is generally well-tolerated by patients. Post-embolization syndrome (nausea, vomiting, pain and fever) affects the majority of patients (I've seen numbers as low as 50% and as high as 90%). There is about a 1-3% chance of infection and about a 1-3% chance of experiencing liver disfunction.
Of course, removing tumors surgically is still the preferred way to deal with them, but chemoembolization can be used before using other therapies in order to make them work better, or to make them possible where it might not have been possible before. It can be used prior to surgery to hopefully shrink tumors enough to be surgically removed, or prior to RFA for the same reason - to make the tumors small enough for RFA.
This is still pretty new, but the doctors I have talked to who use it are very excited and have been able to see good results in a lot of patients.
GOOD LUCK tomorrow!
Hannah
Obviously I haven't had this b/c I am not a survivor, but I have learned a little bit about it in the last few months. I wish I could give more specifics of how it will affect you. I don't know how much you already know, so I'll just give a quick overview so that everyone kind of knows what this is.
Chemoembolization is a way to deliver chemo directly into your liver using a catheter that goes into a blood vessel. It is used to deliver a greater concentration of chemo directly to the liver, which means more chemo to the tumor with less chemo to the rest of the body (and hopefully less severe side effects).
The procedure is generally well-tolerated by patients. Post-embolization syndrome (nausea, vomiting, pain and fever) affects the majority of patients (I've seen numbers as low as 50% and as high as 90%). There is about a 1-3% chance of infection and about a 1-3% chance of experiencing liver disfunction.
Of course, removing tumors surgically is still the preferred way to deal with them, but chemoembolization can be used before using other therapies in order to make them work better, or to make them possible where it might not have been possible before. It can be used prior to surgery to hopefully shrink tumors enough to be surgically removed, or prior to RFA for the same reason - to make the tumors small enough for RFA.
This is still pretty new, but the doctors I have talked to who use it are very excited and have been able to see good results in a lot of patients.
GOOD LUCK tomorrow!
HannahHannah K. Vogler
Co-Founder, The Colon Club
cousin of Amanda Sherwood Roberts
dx 1/99 Stage III at age 24
died January 1, 2002 at age 27
Co-Founder, The Colon Club
cousin of Amanda Sherwood Roberts
dx 1/99 Stage III at age 24
died January 1, 2002 at age 27
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