I wa diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer with mets to the liver in December 2005. I started on a regimen of Folfox with avastin to try and shrink the tumors- one rectal and three liver but acheived only stability. We then switched to Folfiri with avastin for two treatments and I opted for full surgical resection of all tumors at once. This occurred in May 2006. Because 23 of 25 lymph nodes were positive I underwent radiation and continuous chemotherapy with 5-FU for six weeks during the summer of 2006. I had surgery to take down my ileostomy in October 2006 and was diagnosed with a new liver tumor in late November 2006. I then went on a regimen of Folfiri with erbitux which did shrink the tumor which was then ultimately removed in May 2007. I started on irinotecan with erbitux during the summer of 2007 and found three new tumors in August 2007. I wnderwent chemoembolization and radio frequency ablation to treat these tumors in September. I had internal bleeding after these procedures that caused me to hospitalized three times and remain off chemo for over 6 weeks. A subsequent PET scan showed several "hot" spots so I started on irinotecan, erbitux and avastin. In December a CT scan showed tumor growth so we switched chemo to irinotecan, 5-FU, oxaliplatin, and avastin. A scan in April showed shrinkage of the tumors of about 20%. In order to avoid long term neuropathy from the oxaliplatin my chemo was recently switched to Xeloda with irinotecan and avastin. Hopefully it continues to keep things in check.
Through all of this I have been able to maintain a pretty good quality of life and would not have chosen to avoid any of the methods I have tried. They have all worked to bring some people into long term remission. It seems my cancer is too stubborn to stop coming back but I wanted you to know that I have still have had 2 1/2 good years and hopefully more.
Sally