Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2007 Jul 28;13(28):3806-15.
doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i28.3806.

Metastatic colorectal cancer-past, progress and future

Kathryn Field  1 , Lara Lipton
Affiliations
Review

Metastatic colorectal cancer-past, progress and future

Kathryn Field et al. World J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

The clinical management of metastatic (stage IV) colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common challenge faced by surgeons and physicians. The last decade has seen exciting developments in the management of CRC, with significant improvements in prognosis for patients diagnosed with stage IV disease. Treatment options have expanded from 5-fluorouracil alone to a range of pharmaceutical and interventional therapies, improving survival, and providing a cure in selected cases. Enhanced understanding of the biologic pathways most important in colorectal carcinogenesis has led to a new generation of drugs showing promise in advanced disease. It is hoped that in the near future the treatment paradigm of metastatic CRC will be analogous to that of a chronic illness, rather than a rapidly terminal condition. This overview discusses the epidemiology of advanced CRC and currently available therapeutic options including medical, surgical, ablative and novel modalities in the management of metastatic colorectal cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Response of hepatic colorectal cancer metastases treated with SIR spheres. A: Pre-treatment; B: At 12 wk post after intrahepatic infusion of SIR spheres.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Survival benefits of chemotherapy regimens in metastatic colorectal cancer.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Jemal A, Murray T, Ward E, Samuels A, Tiwari RC, Ghafoor A, Feuer EJ, Thun MJ. Cancer statistics, 2005. CA Cancer J Clin. 2005;55:10–30. - PubMed
    1. Boyle P, Ferlay J. Mortality and survival in breast and colorectal cancer. Nat Clin Pract Oncol. 2005;2:424–425. - PubMed
    1. Borner MM. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for unresectable liver metastases of colorectal cancer--too good to be true? Ann Oncol. 1999;10:623–626. - PubMed
    1. Chau I, Allen MJ, Cunningham D, Norman AR, Brown G, Ford HE, Tebbutt N, Tait D, Hill M, Ross PJ, et al. The value of routine serum carcino-embryonic antigen measurement and computed tomography in the surveillance of patients after adjuvant chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2004;22:1420–1429. - PubMed
    1. Uskent ND. Survival from the precocious brain metastasis of the colon cancer. Turk J Cancer. 2003;33:154–157.

MeSH terms

Substances