Colorectal Cancer Treatment: Innovative Therapies

Innovative New Colorectal Cancer Therapies

At Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), part of our treatment approach is being able to offer innovative new therapies to our patients. In an effort to provide the most appropriate colorectal cancer treatment possible for you, we continually search for powerful new innovative therapies to aid in the fight against colorectal cancer.

Technologies such as High-Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy dramatically reduce the amount of time needed to administer radiation therapy, so you are able to spend more time with loved ones during your colorectal cancer treatment. By using catheters to deliver a highly radioactive dose to the tumor site only, HDR brachytherapy can help reduce side effects, while also sparing nearby healthy colorectal tissue.

TomoTherapy^® technology enables your CTCA care team to re-treat previously treated areas in patients who have had a recurrence of colorectal cancer. This new form of therapy combines an advanced form of Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) with CT scanning technology to deliver radiation to hard-to-reach areas with unprecedented accuracy. CTCA hospitals are among the few hospitals in the world to offer TomoTherapy^® as a colorectal cancer treatment option.

TheraSphere® is one of the innovative therapies that CTCA provides as a metastatic colorectal cancer treatment option. TheraSphere®  delivers radiation directly to liver tumors using tiny glass beads called microspheres. In some cases, TheraSphere® is used in conjunction with chemotherapy to treat liver metastases.

Fractionated-dose chemotherapy is an option CTCA physicians have been offering for several years to qualifying colorectal cancer patients. With fractionated-dose chemotherapy, your treatment is given in smaller amounts over a number of days, rather than the large, single dose of standard chemotherapy. This may help reduce common side effects such as nausea and vomiting, making chemotherapy treatment more tolerable.

Intra-arterial chemotherapy is chemotherapy delivered directly to the liver through the hepatic artery. This treatment may be an option for you if your colon or rectal cancer has metastasized to your liver.

Radiofrequency ablation leverages the power of microwave technology to help destroy metastatic colorectal cancer cells. If you have colorectal cancer that has metastasized to the liver, this may be an appropriate treatment option for you. Radiofrequency ablation helps surgeons and radiologists “melt away” cancerous liver tumors, often without the risks and discomfort associated with surgery. This innovative procedure uses ultrasound guidance to send radiofrequency (i.e., electrical energy) to liver tumors through a special catheter placed in the center of the tumor.

The above examples are just some of the innovative colorectal cancer treatments offered at most CTCA cancer hospitals. To discuss your colorectal cancer treatment options at CTCA, contact an Oncology Information Specialist today. Our Oncology Information Specialists are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

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Colorectal Cancer