Double colon-liver op better

Scientists from the Duke University Medical Centre reported to the annual meeting of the Society of Surgical Oncology in Washington, DC that in about a third of the cases in which cancer is found in the colon, it has already spread to the liver. In some of these cases, when only a small amount of the liver has to be removed, they say, it is better to perform both surgeries at the same time.

"The standard approach for these patients has been to remove the colorectal cancer and give them chemotherapy afterwards, waiting to remove liver tumours later if patients do not appear to be developing disease elsewhere in the body, " said senior investigator Dr Bryan Clary in a Duke University news release. "These findings suggest there might be an alternative that is as safe and may even lead to better outcomes."

The chance of the liver surviving is better by simultaneous surgery, the scientists concluded, because it may spare the organ the toxic effects of chemotherapy. – (HealthDayNews)

March 2007