Treatment Complicated By Cirrhossis Anyone?

My husband was disagnosed in May 2005 with Stage III  (with 1 node involved ) rectal cancer, had surgery, continous infusion 5fu and leuokovorin and simutaneous radiaton to pelvis for 6 weeks.

It was decided that he would not have additional Folfox treatment as the cirrhossis in his liver creates a problem since the chemo damages the liver...they were weighing the possible liver damage to an already damaged liver against benefits. Since he had only 1 node invloved they decided no.

Now almost 2 years later, they have found a 1.7 cm mass in the peritonium left of the distal abdominal aorta and mets to the liver.

The doctors concur that the mass is too dangerous to even attempt a CT guided needle biopsy much less surgery.

That leaves the liver mets... I know about Sir Speres and radiofrequency ablation and the freezing that can be done as well as Avastin, Erbitux abd Campotar , but wonder if any of these would be possible with a cirrhotic liver.

Anyone else dealing with liver cancers complicated by cirrhosis ?

What are treatment options...if any...?

Mary

Hi - my 42 yr old husband was dx in dec 2006 with liver cancer and

cirrhosis (non alocholic) due to neglected hep b since birth from

his mother - being from the south east..there were no vaccine back in

the 60's.. he is now taking Sutent (chemo pills) and Gemzar thru IV

which is once a week session..his liver is not doing so well and he's

showing sigs of liver failure (i.e. - jaundice and high ammonia level in his

blood which can cause brain edema) but he is hanging in there but the

Dr  cannot say if surgery is likely to happen bec of the tumor size and

it's location..transplantation is THE only solution but not sure how my

husband will be graded to be bumped up on the list since he is pretty

ill...Dr never mention Gemzar chemo or the chemo pills to be adding

problems or aggravating my husband's cirrhosis . .who knows these days

one thing can be helping the tumor to decrease it's size but can also

be wrecking havoc on the entire liver..God help us !

My brother was diagnosed with primary liver cancer in September 2006.  He got liver cancer due to hepatitis C which he contracted back in the early '80's while on kidney dialysis.  I donated a kidney to him in 1983.  Cancer was not found any where else.  He went through three rounds of radioactive glass beads treatment. Initially, the tumors shrunk.  Eventually, the tumors multiplied and there was nothing more the doctors could do, or..., so they say.  A liver transplant was ruled out due to the hepatitis C. 

My brother passed away in March 2007.  The jaundice got pretty bad, the amonina levels became high which made him delirious.  It was horrible.  Fluid retention in his abdomen and throughout his body was terrible.  Eventually it was difficult to breathe due to the fluid build up.  He was so uncomfortable because of the fluid build up.  The fluid was drained a few day's before he passed away, and it returned immediately.  Prior to his diagnosis in September '06 he complained about feeling full all the time which led to a decreased appetite.  The loss of appetite escalated as he slipped away. 

My thoughts are with you.  It is absolutely horrible to watch someone you love die.  It hurts so much, you are so helpless.  I knew from the time he was diagnosed that he would be with us about six months, however, this did not make it any easier.  Hope sustained me for awhile.  Reality kicks in and you eventually realize time is up.  We are all here for a short time and that's it. 

Try to stay strong.  Once the quality of life is diminished it is okay to say good bye.  Take care. 

On 4/14/2007 Mask55 wrote:

My husband was disagnosed in May 2005 with Stage III  (with 1 node involved ) rectal cancer, had surgery, continous infusion 5fu and leuokovorin and simutaneous radiaton to pelvis for 6 weeks.

It was decided that he would not have additional Folfox treatment as the cirrhossis in his liver creates a problem since the chemo damages the liver...they were weighing the possible liver damage to an already damaged liver against benefits. Since he had only 1 node invloved they decided no.

Now almost 2 years later, they have found a 1.7 cm mass in the peritonium left of the distal abdominal aorta and mets to the liver.

The doctors concur that the mass is too dangerous to even attempt a CT guided needle biopsy much less surgery.

That leaves the liver mets... I know about Sir Speres and radiofrequency ablation and the freezing that can be done as well as Avastin, Erbitux abd Campotar , but wonder if any of these would be possible with a cirrhotic liver.

Anyone else dealing with liver cancers complicated by cirrhosis ?

What are treatment options...if any...?

Mary

Hi there

My beautiful father passed away 14th of may from hccliver cancer he had childs b cirrosis.When dad got diagnosed the doctors said there was nothing that they could do because of the cirrosis.We didnt tell him how bad the situation was and told him that these tablets nexavar would shrink the tumor and then the doctors would be able to operate.I personally think that when the liver is damaged there is nothing that is going to help.We went to a homeopath which gave him a strict diet to follow, forced him to drink vegetable juices five to six times a day gave him metabolism tablets and tried apricot kernels and goji berries.When the liver is damaged as well as having tumors on it whatever you try is only going to put more strain and in the end we didnt benefit from anything we just tormented my poor dad when we should have maybe just let him go in peace.