I'm definitely not an oncologist or surgeon so my opinion is worth
absolutely nothing. Nevertheless, here it is.

Colon cancer is nasty. One or two cells floating around can stop and
create a lesion at a site, and pretty soon you have another "met".
Trying to remove multiple or diffuse malignancies in the abdomen
runs the risk of knocking some more cells free and letting them
loose in the abdomen, or worse, the blood stream.

If the cells are encapsulated in a tumor, the surgeon can cut the
tumor out and take all of the cancer at that time. The chances of
having free adenocarcinoma cells floating around are pretty small,
so it is a good bet.

Messing around in the abdomen is not much fun, and runs some serious
risks, including possible adhesions, small bowel perforation, etc.
Also, any surgery would delay your dad's chemotherapy since it's not
a good idea to keep taking that stuff when you are weak from
surgery. In fact, some drugs, like Avastin, will cause your wounds
from surgery to open up instead of healing (wound dehissance).

So, my opinion, being totally worthless of course, is that your
oncologist is right. Keep trying the conservative approach of Xeloda
and good living. Maybe some nutritional supplements to keep his
strength up would be a good idea.

Meanwhile, today I leave for a week in the Yucatan area of Mexico
with my daughter. I'm leaving my colon cancer behind for a week or
so, just to have fun. When I get back I'll start my clinical trial
on a new drug that may be the "magic bullet" that kicks colon
cancer. Wish me luck.

-joe-


--- In colon_cancer_support@yahoogroups.com, Nic D
<snobunnie1992@y...> wrote:
> Joe,
>
> Thanks for your advice and words of encouragement! My
> dad is continuing with his Xeloda treatment as usual,
> just without the Avastin. His Onc will wait until
> July 21 to test him again.
>
> He has a few mets in his abdomen, but most doctors are
> reluctant to perform resections if there are mutiple
> mets at mutiple organs. His Onc thinks resection will
> make things worse because of adhesions in the
> digestive tract. In my dad's case, he has lung and
> abdmominal mets.
>
> I'm not a medical expert but I think it seems easy to
> remove these mets rather than have chemo. But the
> medical literature seems to indicate otherwise.
>
> Any thoughts on this? (just curious since you always
> have rational explanations).
>
> Have a nice July 4th weekend!!
>
> Nickie
>
> --- Joe Savage <JSAVAGE@E...> wrote:
>
> > Avastin is a "booster" for the basic chemo agent
> > that he is taking
> > (5-FU perhaps?). Once his protein level drops as the
> > Avastin wears
> > off, your oncologist may want to discontinue Avastin
> > but continue
> > with the basic chemo.
> >
> > There are other "boosters" that can be used, such as
> > Leucovorin
> > which helps 5-FU do its job and Erbitux which seems
> > to help 5-FU and
> > CPT-11 do their thing. Of course, Erbitux has its
> > own set of adverse
> > reactions; Leucovorin is pretty mild.
> >
> > Anyway, the protein levels should drop after a while
> > and your dad
> > can continue chemo if he is otherwise up to it.
> >
> > Been There, Done That, Have the Tee Shirt!
> >
> > -joe-
> >
> > --- In colon_cancer_support@yahoogroups.com, Nic D
> > <snobunnie1992@y...> wrote:
> > > We have bad news today -- my dad's Avastin chemo
> > was
> > > cancelled because of high protein levels (3+) in
> > his
> > > urine.
> > >
> > > He MRI results (as compared to 12/03 and 9/04)
> > showed
> > > sligh increases in the size of his peritoneal mets
> > > (largest from 8 cm to 10 cm) and they found
> > another
> > > smaller met in the mid-abdomen near the transverse
> > > colon (about 2 cm). The lung mets are the same.
> > >
> > > His Onc says that my dad's tumors seem to be slow
> > > growing so that's good news. His liver, kidneys,
> > etc.
> > > are fine.
> > >
> > > My dad has been experiencing more abdominal pain
> > near
> > > his right side where the mets are.
> > >
> > > Is there anything medications or anything that we
> > can
> > > do to help reduce the protein levels in his
> > urine???
> > >
> > >
> > > I am praying this protein level decreases so he
> > can
> > > re-start Avastin treatment again.
> > >
> > > Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
> > >
> > > Have a nice July 4th weekend.
> > >
> > > Nickie
> > >
> > >
> > >
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