What Second Line Treatments Eliminated Cancer for You?

[Peridot1]

After removal of the ascending colon, I was given 8 cycles of FOLFOX. A CT scan 1 month following treatment showed 5 small lesions which the oncologists say they are colon metastasis to liver. So FOLFOX failed. I will be having surgery to remove these lesions. What chemotherapy post surgery worked for you? Did you also have chemo plus other agents and did the combo work for you? Are you cancer free? I want to learn as much as possible about the various treatment options, Thank you very much.

[MartinVB1000]

I had CRC resection in April 2016.

It was assessed as T3 N2 .

Had 6 folfox sessions. Been clear since.

The oxaliplatin is very effective and literally poisons the cancer cells.

You are in good hands, you have our prayers

[Peridot1 in reply to MartinVB1000]

Thank you, Martin, unfortunately for me, 8 cycles FOLFOX did not stop metastasis to liver. I had severe side effects from Oxaliplatin, Good that 6 cycles of FOLFOX worked for you.

What I'm asking is if anyone has or is now going through a liver surgery followed by second treatment and what is the treatment. Thank you.

[MartinVB1000]

The main product in folfox is oxaliplatin. The metastasis is common to the liver and the surgery to remove the tumours is standard with M1.

The oncologist will ensure that once you have had the lesions cut out they sweep up with the chemotherapy. Don’t give up. You are in good hands and this disease is being hammered.

[MartinVB1000 in reply to MartinVB1000]

The folfox chemotherapy works . They find that although 12 sessions is the maximum , many are now on 6-8

[Peridot1 in reply to MartinVB1000]

Thank you, Martin, for your responses and words of encouragement. Merry Christmas.

[MartinVB1000 in reply to Peridot1]

Merry Christmas to you too.

May you make a full recovery. God bless

[Peridot1 in reply to MartinVB1000]

Liver Surgery to remove lesions believed to be colon mets on Jan 3. I have KRAS and p53 mutations only. So no erbitux. I want to hit this cancer hard with chemo. Besides folfiri is there another drug to add (since I can’t have erbitux)? Thanks to everyone.

[MartinVB1000 in reply to Peridot1]

Your oncologist will ensure you get all the chemotherapy your body can stand to kill off this cancer. Have faith.

[Peridot1 in reply to MartinVB1000]

Thanks, Martin. I always feel so rushed when talking with oncologist. They answer questions but I don’t know what to ask. Since first surgery and folfiri failed, I feel I need to be involved and educated. So looking for help as to what is there that I can bounce off with oncologists.

[Stevestrolls]

Mine was T3 N2 and it was deemed likely that cells had already spread around the body. So I had 12 cycles of Folfox and 6 of Oxiplatin. This was standard at the time, but now they have found that so many Folfox treatments causes a lot of side-effects and is possibly not particularly any more effective. There is a huge amount of research going on into bowel cancer at the moment and huge amounts of progress have been made. I went to a BC conference a couple of months ago and the info that I had when I was researching my disease in 2015 is already well out of date. One thing that is clear, is that everyone's experience of bowel cancer is different.

Since my diagnosis and treatment I've been working with my health trust on cancer rehab, now they are promoting the benefits of exercise for those undergoing treatment as well as post treatment.

[Peridot1 in reply to Stevestrolls]

Thank you, Stevestrolls, for your insights. Do you have websites to share on current research on phase 4 colon cancer?

[Jonnyj787 in reply to Stevestrolls]

Hi did you have EMVI as well as lymph node involvement?

[Peridot1 in reply to Jonnyj787]

What’s EMVI?

[Stevestrolls]

Unfortunately no. There are so many kinds of Stage 4 colon cancer. I don't think they have a real handle on why these cancers spread to different areas. Some people get spread to the liver, some to the lungs, some to the pancreas, some to the serosa, etc. You can't just say - if it spreads, it spreads to this place. Each person is different.

The most interesting research I saw were some preliminary information from the 100,000 genome project, just looking at which genetic mutations are involved in the most common kinds of cancers. Breast Cancer is linked primarily with one genetic variant. However, with Colon Cancer there are many genes which are implicated. There is a long way to go yet on this project but I'm hoping that this will help uncover why colon cancer moves in different ways in different people. We have a strong history of it in our family.

[Peridot1 in reply to Stevestrolls]

Thanks, Stevestrolls, for your help. There is no colon cancer in my family. If you want to just pass on links that you find as you research, I'd be grateful. I have 2 mutations: KRAS and p53. Best to you.

[Jonnyj787]

Extramural vascular invasion (EMVI) is the direct invasion of a blood vessel (usually a vein) by a tumour.

[Peridot1 in reply to Jonnyj787]

There does not seem to be EMVI.