“Metastases cancer” or stage 4 cancer, is the medical term for describing a condition where a tumor originating in a certain organ, “primary tumor”, is identified in another organ or in a distant location from the original organ, e.g., metastases of breast cancer can be found in the lungs, brain, bones and liver.
It is important to note, metastases are the same type of the original primary tumor, even if its location is in distant organs and so are the treatments regarded as such, for example, a treatment for a metastatic lung cancer that has spread to the liver, is determined by the treatment for metastatic lung cancer and not by the treatment for liver cancer.
Metastases formation
Cancer cells of the primary tumor can be released into the bloodstream and lymphatic system and circulate to distant organs or adjacent organs and tissues to the primary tumor and “settle” in them and grow.
There are different types of cancer which is known where metastases can be formed, for example,
Breast cancer can spread to the bones, brain, liver and lungs
Lung cancer can spread to the brain, bones, liver and kidney
Prostate cancer can spread to the bones
Colon cancer, rectal cancer, colorectal cancer can spread to the liver and lungs
Breast cancer can spread to the bones, brain, liver and lungs
Stage IV metastatic cancer and recovery
In the vast majority of the metastatic cases, the treatments do not cure. Treatment goals are slowing tumor growth rate, prolonging life and reducing the symptoms of the disease, improving the quality of life of the patient.
The efficacy of the treatments is affected by many factors, among them are the type of cancer, number of metastases (also called “lesions”) and their location, how much cancer the patient has in his or her body, growth rate of the tumor lesions, medical history of the patient, background diseases, microenvironment between the tumor cells themselves, resistance the tumor has developed to previous treatments and other.
Advanced treatments and clinical trials for stage 4
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) highlights the fact that for a certain group of metastatic cancer patients, the best treatment option is to join one of the many clinical trials existing worldwide aiming to increase their chances of therapeutic success.
This is also recommended by the USA national comprehensive cancer network, NCCN, (USA national comprehensive cancer network)
“Patients with cancer should be encouraged to participate in clinical trials during all aspects of their diagnosis and treatment”
Currently, every patient will be offered the standard protocols described above. Sometimes the oncologist may suggest integrating these therapies with trials carried out in the Institute.
Advances in cancer therapies may be found in clinical trials prescribing cutting edge, interesting drugs, some of which have already been recognized by the FDA (US Food & Drug Administration) as “breakthrough treatments” and require further information input before being finally and fully approved.
An entire world of clinical trials and compassionate drugs and treatments are open and available worldwide. It is important to know which cutting edge treatments exist which patients can gain far more from them than the standard care offered.
For most patients with stage 4 metastatic cancer, current treatments are insufficiently effective. This gives rise to the need for innovative strategies with greater efficacy in fighting the disease.
Read our publications on innovative treatments for stage 4 metastatic cancer:
Nerlynx in metastatic cervical cancer About a week ago, preliminary results were published in a study examining the efficacy and safety of aN approved drug,
Triple Negative Breast Cancer, TNBC, is the most aggressive type of breast cancer. Once the disease becomes metastatic, life expectancy is around 12 to 15
Two weeks ago, results from Phase I/II study in which patients with metastatic urothelial cancer – whose disease progressed after platinum-based standard chemotherapy and after
According to a new study cancer patients with cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) with a BRAF V600E mutation can benefit from treatment with two biological drugs
About a week ago, the International Conference on Gastrointestinal Tracts was held in the United States. The conference presented results from a Phase I /
Personalized medicine has led to some dramatic successes in the treatment of cancer in patients with advanced disease. With developments in molecular diagnosis or genetic
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The International AACR conference was recently held in the US. The results of a Phase I study were presented in 10 patients with advanced sarcoma between the ages of 4 and 54. The study is open to recruitment and plans to recruit more and more sarcoma patients, including children. The treatment is given to patients whose tumor expresses on its surface a protein called “HER2”, which is common in about 40% of sarcoma patients, including the most common sarcoma type, Osteosarcoma.
Results
One of the children who participated in the study, with Rhabdomyosarcoma that had metastasized into his bone marrow, was in a full remission that lasted 12 months. He received additional treatments and is now 17 months in full remission!
Another patient with Osteosarcoma, metastatic to the lungs, also achieved full remission that lasted 32 months! Three more patients achieved stable disease and among five others, the disease progressed.
In general, patients in this clinical trial experienced a low toxicity to the treatment. As expected, all patients had reductions in blood count, which improved after treatment, and none of them developed any infections due to decreased blood count.
The future
Today, treatment options for children and adults with recurrent or resistant sarcomas are very limited. These patients are offered general chemotherapy regimens whose chances of success are low and can be toxic. Therefore, the results of this study, which carry great hope for these patients and the very existence of this clinical trial, is a tremendous opportunity to benefit from innovative treatment that is not for nothing, one of the most advanced in the world.
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