My Dad Has Colon Cancer...?

Question

Hello... My dad was just diagnosed with colon cancer... I don't know to much about it... I was just wondering if anyone can tell us what were in for... He starts Chemo and Radiation on Monday...

Now my Grandma... My Dad's mom to be exact... Just passed from colon cancer last year... When they operated they made it worse... The nurse said it was like puting gas on a fire... It made it spread everywhere... Can that happen again?....

Are there things... even just little things... We can do to help him... And whats going to happen as far as side effects... Any info would be appreciated if you have been with anyone that has gone through this before and maybe you have survived cancer... Thank you so much for anything you can tell me...

They sadi they are going to operate at the end of the 5 weeks of Chemo and Radiation...

Answer 1

I am a 41 year old female who was diagnosed with stage IV (advanced) colon cancer in Jan 2006. It had spread to the liver, and I was told that I could not have the tumours in the liver removed, due to the number of tumours present. I had surgery to remove 5/6ths of my colon, and did chemo (FOLFOX and Avastin). After 16 rounds of chemo I sought out a liver surgeon who was doing aggressive liver surgery on younger patients. I am now booked for my liver resection Jan 29, 2007 - one year and 4 days after the surgery to remove my colon. Colon cancer treatments have come a long way in the past 4 years. Prior to the the same drug 5FU was used for the past 40+ years. I document my journey through colon cancer in my blog on my website www.wendysbattle.com. I have included a lot of information that I have found useful in my treatment. I did not have radiation so I can not help you with that. The chemo was very tolerable, just tiring.
You need to be screened, earlier the better - as you are at a higher risk at developing cc yourself. Early detection is important for successful treatment and curability.

Please feel free to email me if you have any other questions.

Answer 2

Immediately call your doctor and ask if MONOCLONAL TREATMENTS are possible. My father had colon cancer back in 1ht late 70's, had monoclonal treatments and is cancer free. He never had radiation or chemotherapy. In simplistic terms they take a vile of blood, grow antibodies against the colon cancer cells and re inject it back into the patient. They had operated on my father and could not get all the cancer because it was to close to the heart. It completly dissappeared in about a year.

Answer 3

me too, i will pray, but as far as the chemo and stuff goes hes just going to feel REALLY REALLY sick and absolutly horrible, and maybe want to give up because the chemo makes him feel that way, just tell him that its only the chemo, and that he is doing this to fight for his life and family, all you can really do is reassure him again and again.... and yes someties operations can make things worse, but sometimes they can make it better its really 50/50, so no help there. but also remember this.... if your dad were to pass for any reason.. just know that its his time to go, and there was nothing you could do about it.. all the money or surgeries in the world wouldnt have saved him if he was meant to die,, and there is a reason for it... and you WILL be reunited one day, think of it as a vacation or a parting for a long time, or until its your time. just dont be sad, you will be together again . but i willpray and hopefully they caught everything in time and he will be as good as new in the next year... good luck.. ♥

Answer 4

My father died of colon cancer 20 years ago, his eyes, skin turned yellow from the colon not working. The chemo might help. Pray and be faithful. Good luck.

Answer 5

New adjunct chemo therapy not approved in the USA
OKed for use outside the US.
Increased the ability of patients to tolerate Chemo to the full 100%
Increased the Survival rate by 80%

They are accepting some patients for Fast Track SPA in the USA.

http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00347412?order=2

Novelos' pipeline of drugs is based on oxidized glutathione, a natural metabolite that is part of the glutathione pathway. This pathway is the primary determinant of intracellular redox (oxidation/reduction) potential and, as such, plays a key role in cell protection (e.g. detoxification) and in regulation of cell signaling pathways (e.g. leading to cytokine production). Novelos’ lead products are believed to act, in part, via post-translational modification (glutathionylation) of critical regulatory proteins that mediate processes including immune function, cell proliferation and tumor progression (in combination with chemotherapy). They may also sensitize tumor cells to certain chemotherapeutic drugs by modifying drug detoxification processes.

Answer 6

Well my dear,as far as I know there are many different types of colon cancer.The seriousness of the disease depends on the location and above all on the histological result.I just can recommend looking for a good oncologist who will be able to plan the best treatment for your dad.

Best of luck and I wish your dad to be fine soon.

Answer 7

hi i don`t know much about colon cancer don`t know your dad shouldn`t eat any faty food . the thing about your grandma is very sad 2 hear but it could happen again 2 your da if he starts 2 do stuff after the operation sorry 2 hear about your dad

Answer 8

The "putting gas on a fire" story of cancers progressing because of being exposed to air during surgery is a complete myth and a dangerous one at that. I'm shocked and dismayed to hear that you credit the telling of this myth to a licensed health care professional such as a nurse. If this is so, the "nurse" in question should be put in front of the nursing board for consideration of license action. I'm completely serious.

Colon cancer can be detected in one of two ways. Either the patient develops symptoms of concern and seeks medical attention leading to a series of events culminating in a colon cancer diagnosis, or else a patient who is without symptoms undergoes routine health screening and colon cancer is discovered.

In the first case, the colon cancer is typically advanced at the time of discovery. It has already invaded out of the colon into surrounding organs and it has spread throughout the body - most commonly to the liver.

In the second case, it is possible to catch early cancers before they are deeply invasive, and because they are intervened upon at an earlier stage, the survival is much better. This is the rationale for cancer screening programs. In the US, the recommendation is that for otherwise healthy people without additional risk factors, colon cancer screening should begin at age 50 and occur at regular intervals thereafter (the american cancer society recommends a schedule of every 10 years and lists a number of ways to check for cancer - my personal recommendation is to go every 5 years and do a complete colonoscopy).

When cancer develops, one of the things that makes it truly a CANCER is it's ability to spread to distant sites. This is called metastasis. Metastasis probably occurs in a microscopic way over a substantial period of time. When we do colon surgery for cancer, we assess the local lymph nodes for metastases, and if they are sufficiently present, we assume that there are microscopic metastases in other parts of the body even if we cannot detect them with scans such as CT or PET. These patients would benefit from chemotherapy. There is some evidence and some theoretical reason to believe that tiny metastases which are already present at the time of surgery may undergo a growth spurt soon after surgery because of the body sending out signals that boost the healing process (these are called growth factors), however these are metastases that are already present. They are not "spread" by the surgery.

Also, estimation of the extent of disease prior to surgery can often be an underestimation. CT scan will clearly demonstrate liver metastases when they are big enough, however, even when CT scans of the abdomen do not demonstrate lesions growing in the liver, there can be large numbers of metastatic lesions found at the time of surgery when the individual size of the lesions is too small for CT to accurately detect. Routine CT scans will fail to demonstrate colon cancer mets to the liver that are 5 millimeters or less in size, and these are clearly visible to the naked eye at surgery.

In some cases, chemotherapy is done prior to surgery. However, in most cases, surgical removal of the primary colon cancer occurs first, and after the patient heals the wound, and after the specimen has been completely examined, a decision to proceed with chemotherapy or not is made. In general, the chemotherapy for colon cancer in the 21st century is much better tolerated and much more effective than previous generations of treatment. The current regimen is called "FOLFOX". A combination of agents are used in a specific schedule. Even patients in otherwise moderately poor health tolerate this regimen. In the old days, one would have to be "healthier" to withstand the available therapy.

Surgery of the colon is generally well tolerated. Depending on the patient, the portion of the colon involved, and the skills of the surgeon, a large number of these cases can now be handled laparoscopically. Instead of making a long midline incision and removing the offending colon segment, a series of tiny incisions can be made in order to insert a thin camera and tools. The colon segment is removed, the ends are rejoined and the specimen is brought out through a small extension of one of the incisions. Patients recover from this operation with significantly reduced pain and significantly accelerated recovery. Large multicentered clinical trials recently validated that this method of surgery (laparoscopic) is equally effective and equally safe for the treatment of colon cancer. Not every surgeon does this because it requires a significant investment in extra surgical training.

In order to answer your questions about what to expect, one would have to know several specific things about your father's case. For example, expected outcomes are related to cancer stage. Cancer staging is therefore one of the first questions you need answered. The stage of a cancer (1, 2, 3 or 4) is determined by evaluation of the actual surgical specimen of colon and it's surrounding lymph nodes, as well as looking at things like CT or PET scans of the abdomen searching for signs of disease which has spread away from it's site of origin.

I wish you and your dad the best. I encourage you to remain vigilant about your own health as well. You now have two direct ancestors who have had a cancer diagnosis. If you do not see a primary care doctor on a regular basis, you should. If you do, they should be made aware of this family cancer history. You may or may not fall into a category of elevated risk, but if you do, you should be appropriately screened. The best weapon we have in fighting cancer is early detection.

Answer 9

I'll PRAY for your dads recovery, best I can do to help.

Answer 10

Colorectal cancer, also called colon cancer or bowel cancer, includes cancerous growths in the colon, rectum and appendix. It is the third most common form of cancer and the second leading cause of death among cancers in the Western world. Many colorectal cancers are thought to arise from adenomatous polyps in the colon. These mushroom-like growths are usually benign, but some may develop into cancer over time. The majority of the time, the diagnosis of localized colon cancer is through colonoscopy. Therapy is usually through surgery, which in many cases is followed by chemotherapy.

Treatment
The treatment depends on the staging of the cancer. When colorectal cancer is caught at early stages (with little spread) it can be curable. However when it is detected at later stages (when distant metastases are present) it is less likely to be curable.

Surgery remains the primary treatment while chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy may be recommended depending on the individual patient's staging and other medical factors.


Surgery
Surgeries can be categorised into curative, palliative, bypass, fecal diversion, or open-and-close.

Curative Surgical treatment can be offered if the tumor is localized.

Very early cancer that develops within a polyp can often be cured by removing the polyp (i.e., polypectomy) at the time of colonoscopy.
In colon cancer, a more advanced tumor typically requires surgical removal of the section of colon containing the tumor with sufficient margins, and radical en-bloc resection of mesentery and lymph nodes to reduce local recurrence (i.e., colectomy). If possible, the remaining parts of colon are anastomosed together to create a functioning colon. In cases when anastomosis is not possible, a stoma (artificial orifice) is created.
Curative surgery on rectal cancer includes total mesorectal excision (anterior resection) or abdominoperineal excision.
In case of multiple mestatasis, palliative resection of the primary tumour is still offered in order to reduce further morbidity caused by tumor bleeding, invasion, and its catabolic effect. Surgical removal of isolated liver metastases is, however, common; improved chemotherapy has increased the number of patients who are offered surgical removal of isolated liver metastases.

If the tumor invaded into adjacent vital structures which makes excision technically difficult, the surgeons may prefer to bypass the tumor (ileotransverse bypass) or to do a proximal fecal diversion through a stoma.

The worst case would be an open-and-close surgery, when surgeons find the tumor unresectable and the small bowel involved; any more procedures would do more harm than good to the patient.

Laparoscopic-assisted colectomy is a minimally-invasive technique that can reduce the size of the incision, minimize the risk of infection, and reduce post-operative pain.

As with any surgical procedure, colorectal surgery may result in complications including

wound infection
anastomosis breakdown, leading to abscess or fistula formation, and/or peritonitis
bleeding with or without hematoma formation
adhesions resulting in bowel obstruction (especially small bowel)
blind loop syndrome as in bypass surgery.
adjacent organ injury; most commonly to the small intestine, ureters, spleen, or bladder

Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is used to reduce the likelihood of metastasis developing, shrink tumor size, or slow tumor growth. Chemotherapy is often applied after surgery (adjuvant), before surgery (neo-adjuvant), or as the primary therapy if surgery is not indicated (palliative). The treatments listed here have been shown in clinical trials to improve survival and/or reduce mortality rate and have been approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Adjuvant (after surgery) chemotherapy. One regimen involves the combination of infusional 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX)
5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or Capecitabine (Xeloda®)
Leucovorin (LV, Folinic Acid)
Oxaliplatin (Eloxatin®)
Chemotherapy for metastatic disease. Commonly used first line chemotherapy regimens involve the combination of infusional 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) with bevacizumab or infusional 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, and irinotecan (FOLFIRI) with bevacizumab
5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or Capecitabine
Leucovorin (LV, Folinic Acid)
Irinotecan (Camptosar®)
Oxaliplatin (Eloxatin®)
Bevacizumab (Avastin®)
Cetuximab (Erbitux®)
In clinical trials for treated/untreated metastatic disease. [4]
Bortezomib (Velcade®)
Panitumumab (Vectibix)
Oblimersen (Genasense®, G3139)
Gefitinib and Erlotinib (Tarceva®)
Topotecan (Hycamtin®)

Radiation therapy
Radiotherapy is not used routinely in colorectal cancer, as it could lead to radiation enteritis, and is difficult to target specific portions of the colon. Indications included:

Colon cancer
pain relief and palliation - targeted at metastatic tumor deposits if they compress vital structures and/or cause pain.
Rectal cancer
neoadjuvant - downgrade the tumor to increase resectability
adjuvant - where a tumor perforates the colon as judged by the surgeon or the pathologist (Dukes C tumour), guided by surgical clips
palliative - kill tumor tissue when surgery is not indicated
Sometimes chemotherapy agents are used to increase the effectiveness of radiation by sensitizing tumor cells if present.


Immunotherapy
Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is being investigated as an adjuvant mixed with autologous tumor cells in immunotherapy for colorectal cancer.[18]


Vaccine
In November 2006, it was announced that a vaccine had been developed and tested with very promising results.(See [5]) The new vaccine, called TroVax, works in a totally different way to existing treatments by harnessing the patient's own immune system to fight the disease. Experts say this suggests that gene therapy vaccines could prove an effective treatment for a whole range of cancers. Oxford BioMedica[6] is the company behind the vaccine; it's a British company established as a spin-out from Oxford University and specialises in the development of gene-based treatments. Further vaccine trials are underway.


Support therapies
Cancer diagnosis very often results in an enormous change in the patient's psychological wellbeing. Various support resources are available from hospitals and other agencies which provide counseling, social service support, cancer support groups, and other services. These services help to mitigate some of the difficulties of integrating a patient's medical complications into other parts of their life.


Prognosis
Survival is directly related to detection and the type of cancer involved. Survival rates for early stage detection is about 5 times that of late stage cancers. CEA level is also directly related to the prognosis of disease, since its level correlates with the bulk of tumor tissue.


Follow-up
Follow-up aims at diagnosing metachronise lesion(s) or distant metastasis in the early stage. History taking and physical examination every 3 to 6 months for three years after surgery. CEA every 2 to 3 months for two or more years in patients who have had resection of liver metastasis. Colonoscopy looking for synchronise lesion(s) should be done shortly after surgery if preoperatively the scope cannot pass through the tumor; otherwise it should be done every 3 to 5 years. ASCO recommends against other routine follow-up tests such as Chest X-Ray, Ultrasound, CT, etc.


Most colorectal cancers should be preventable, through increased surveillance, improved lifestyle, and, probably, the use of dietary chemopreventive agents.