Cancer survival...I think I know the answer but......

[divegirl]

Hi, my friends husband has just been diagnosed with cancer. It has been a fast and aggressive onset that, as far as I know started in the bowel and has now spread to the lymph nodes, liver, rectum and is suspected in some bone. The doctors [she is in Canada] have said that they want to start chemo straight away but have given him three months to two years :0(
She is however under the impression that if he could receive a liver transplant he could beat this, I think they doctors gave the impression that they could cure all apart from the liver cancer with chemo and surgery.
So my question is.....would that really work? Surely it's not that 'simple'.

Lisa x

[woofgang]

So far as I know, you can't have a transplant until you are all clear of any other cancers because the anti rejection drugs are likely to allow the cancers to regrow faster by disabling your own immune system. Sorry.

[divegirl]

hi, that is more or less what I thought. I think she is just trying to find some hope and I can't blame her for that! I lost my dad to cancer of the gall bladder which quickly hit the lymph nodes and liver....it was game over and fast. I just want to get some perspective on this before I talk to her.

Lisa x

[WELSHYORKIE]

Divegirl, Rowanwitch would be the ideal person to ask as she used to work in the liver unit in Birmingham

[divegirl]

Oh cool....hopefully the lady her self or the venerable Sqad will come along.

[4getmenot]

im afraid doesnt look good. But your friend is trying to look into anything that will help her husband which is understandable. Im lucky that my blokes cancer was curable. X

[rowanwitch]

Transplant wouldn't be an option as far as I am aware ...because the immunosuppression drugs would allow any stray cancer cells to grow unchecked. (in metastatic disease there will be some) .. If there was only one place in the liver that had a metastasis then if there was very little other spread it might be possible to do a liver resection (removal of the attected area) but it is more likely to be treated with a trans arterial chemo embolisation or radio frequency ablation to control rather than cure it. I suspect they have said they can control or treat the other areas rather than cure and she has misunderstood.

I think the confusion may have also arisen because If it was a single liver primary with no spread some centres might try transplant but they would need to be pretty sure it was contained in the one spot

It might be worth contacting their national transplant service for confirmation

[divegirl]

Thank you Rowan for taking the time to reply. I have a few hours before I talk to her and will pass on what I have found out...I just wish I could be closer for her, but I know she has made many good friends in Canada, they only moved there two years ago, 'to live the dream' ........ Life just isn't fair at times :0(

Lisa x

[Sqad]

I agree with rowan....livers for transplant are at a premium and i know this mat sound harsh, but it would be a "waste of a donor liver" in such a disseminated spread.

Solitary liver secondaries from a colon cancer may be treated by liver resection but even so, the prognosis would be i year at best,

A liver transplant is out of the question.

[divegirl]

Thank you Sqad for taking the time.

It's so sad part of me just wants to tell her that she needs to know that this is game over and to just try and enjoy the time they have left. But I don't think she is ready to hear that yet! I knows that's what we did when my Dad was told his cancer had gone into the liver and the lymph nodes and it is something I am eternally grateful for.

Lisa x