Colon Cancer Stage IV Treatment

Colon cancer arises when cells from the colon, which is also known as the large intestine, begin to grow abnormally and no longer respond to normal cellular signals. Colon cancer is generally classified into one of four stages, with stage IV being the most serious. Stage IV colon cancer, also known as metastatic colon cancer, signifies that the cancer has spread to other areas of the body. The most common sites of colon cancer metastases are in the liver and lungs.

Surgical Removal

• While stage IV colon cancer generally cannot be cured with surgical removal of the tumors, surgery can prolong survival and improve the quality of life. This type of treatment generally works best if the metastases are small and in an area that is easily accessible for operations, such as the lungs. In this case, removal of the main colon tumor and the metastases can be very effective.

Treatment for Liver Metastases

• Because the liver is one of the most common sites for stage IV colon cancer spread, a number of therapies are geared towards treating liver metastases. If the liver metastases cannot be surgically removed, chemotherapy can be administered directly into the hepatic artery (a large artery in the liver) which can shrink the tumor and can allow treatment via cryosurgery (freezing the metastases), or radioablation, which uses a short concentrated burst of radiation to kill the metastatic cancer.

Treatments for Colon Blockage

• In some cases the colon cancer is too widespread for effective surgical removal of the main colon tumor. With these patients, blockage of the colon can be prevented by either removing part of the colon and connecting the remaining large intestine to the rectum, or via the use of a colostomy (in which the large intestine is removed and the remaining parts of the digestive tract are diverted to connect to an external bag which collects digestive waste).

Standard Chemotherapy

• One of the mainstays of therapy for stage IV colon cancer is the use of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy works to poison cells that are rapidly dividing by either preventing cell division or damaging their DNA. Because cancer cells divide more rapidly than other cells in the body, these types of therapy predominantly affect the cancer cells.

Targeted Therapies

• A new development in the treatment of stage IV colon cancer is the use of therapies that work to slow the growth of metastases. One medication that is commonly used for metastatic colon cancer is bevacizumab. This is a compound that prevents the growth of new blood vessels. Because metastases need to develop new blood vessels in order to survive, this can slow the spread of colon cancer to other areas of the body.