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Chemo Pump Aids in Fight Against Colon Cancer

By Henry J. Fishman, M.D.
ConsumerAffairs.com

May 18, 2006

Colon Cancer • Colorectal Cancer Screening Rate 50 Percent or Less • Chemo Benefits in Doubt for Early-Stage Colon Cancer Patients • Doctors Over-Prescribing Colonoscopies, Study Finds • Just One Colonoscopy Effective In Reducing Cancer Deaths • Colon Cancer Risk Often Has Family Links • Chemo Pump Aids in Fight Against Colon Cancer • Virtual Colonoscopy Reveals Diseases Outside Colon • Aspirin and Colon Cancer • Healthy Diet May Overcome Family Risk

A new pump which delivers chemotherapy to the liver may save thousands of people with advanced colon cancer.

If you catch colon cancer early, when it hasn't spread, you can cut it out and usually cure it. But once it spreads through the lymph system to, say, your liver, your chances of surviving go down.

To improve the odds, doctors studied a new pump which delivers chemotherapy right to where the tumor has spread.

They cut the colon cancer out and placed the pump in the patient's belly to deliver medicine to the liver, along with regular chemotherapy.

The new device helped: 85 percent of those who received chemotherapy in the liver, along with regular chemo, survived at least two years, 15 percent higher than those without the pump.

Conclusions: Prevent colon cancer by eating a high-fiber diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Talk to your doctor about early detection. Finally, if your cancer spreads to the liver, ask about the pump. It could save your life.

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