If a person’s colon cancer has spread to distant organs or tissues, it’s generally not curable. But there are still treatments available that can help the person live longer. These include surgery, chemotherapy, and sometimes radiation. Doctors also use a variety of medications to control colon cancer progression or symptoms, such as pain and diarrhea.
The first step is a screening test like a colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy, which can find polyps or colon cancer. If the cancer is found, a biopsy will be taken. The biopsy will show if the colon cancer cells are spreading. Then, a CT scan will be done to look for signs of cancer in other parts of the body.
Stage 4 colon cancer refers to cancer that has spread from the inner lining of the colon to other parts of the body. The most common places it spreads are to the liver and lungs. Doctors assign a number to each stage of colon cancer, based on how advanced the cancer is and where it has spread to.
When staging begins, doctors assess the tumor (T), lymph node involvement (N), and metastasis (M). They also determine how fast the cancer is growing and what grade it is. The higher the grade, the faster the cancer grows and is more likely to spread.
Surgery can’t cure colon cancer when it has spread. But removing the colon cancerous tissue may help reduce symptoms or slow the rate of colon cancer growth. Surgery might also help prevent the cancer from returning after chemotherapy or radiation.
A doctor might recommend a procedure called a diverting colostomy, which reroutes one end of the colon through an opening in the abdomen. This allows waste to flow out of the body through a pouch that hangs in the abdomen, rather than through an opening in the skin.
In some cases, doctors may also recommend chemotherapy before or after surgery. This is called adjuvant chemotherapy, and it’s meant to improve the results of surgery. It might also lower the chance that the cancer will recur and help with symptoms like pain or diarrhea.
The type of chemotherapy depends on whether the cancer has spread to the liver and what other organs or tissues it might have reached. It might include chemo drugs that travel through the bloodstream or through your lymphatic system. It might also involve ablation, which involves targeting specific areas of the body with radiation.
As a patient or family member, you have the right to ask for as much information about your condition as you want. It’s important to talk with your healthcare team and discuss what you want to know. Then you can work together to figure out the best way to manage your health and care. Your medical team can also tell you what you can expect from the treatment. They can also tell you about clinical trials that might be open to you. These are newer, more effective treatments for some types of cancer.
