Colon cancer is one of the most common types of cancers in the United States. Treatment options usually consist of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. There are actually five stages of colon cancer, each reflecting how far the cancer has spread. The good news is that 83 percent of people with Stage 3 colon cancer--cancer which has reached the middle layers of the colon and spread to three lymph nodes, are still alive five years after their diagnosis, according to the American Cancer Society. And with new drugs now available, the survival rate is significantly increasing. Read on to learn more about treat Stage 3 colon cancer.
Instructions
1. Prepare for surgery. One option is a surgical resection. In this procedure, a doctor removes part of the colon laparoscopically through an abdominal incision, and then stitches the remaining healthy sections back together. A relatively new approach, as of 2009, it should only be performed by an experienced surgeon. There are other types of resection surgeries, including a colostomy, which is performed based on the size, location and stage of the disease.
2. Have chemotherapy. In this widely used treatment, rapidly multiplying cells that form growths or tumors are destroyed by very strong drugs. Chemotherapy is often combined with other treatments like surgery and radiation. Because these treatments and therapies also have some side effects and can kill healthy cells, it's important to add some of your own treatments, like exercise, that will help you feel stronger, in control and also build up your immune system.
3. Get radiation. This procedure uses very high amounts of x-rays that will destroy cancer cells in the colon. Certain types of high-energy beams of radiation shrink tumors, and also eliminate cancer cells that divide rapidly.
4. Consider participating in a clinical trial. These trials are experiments designed and carried out by researchers to treat new drugs and therapies before they are submitted for approval to the FDA or marketed and sold. Your doctor can search a database for you. You can also research yourself. See "Resources" below to find a clinical trial that will benefit you.
5. Ask your doctor about Avastatin, a newly approved drug by the United States Federal Drug Administration for certain types of cancers, including colon cancer. The medication, which starves tumors, can slow---even cure the cancer.
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