Metastatic Rectal Cancer
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What is Metastatic Rectal Cancer?
Metastatic rectal cancer occurs when cancer spreads from the large intestine and rectum to other areas of the body. This happens when rectal cancer cells break away from a tumor and spread through the blood or lymph system. The malignant cells then settle in new places and form new tumors.
Even when cancer has spread to a new place in the body and is no longer occurring in the large intestine or rectum, it is still classified and named after the location of the body where it first occurred. For example, if rectal cancer spreads to the liver, it is still called metastatic rectal cancer (even though it is occurring in both the liver as well as the large intestine). When rectal cancer returns in a person who appeared to be free of the disease after treatment, it is called a rectal cancer recurrence.
Treatment for metastatic rectal cancer varies, depending on your age, overall health, and unique needs as a patient. While the liver is the most common area of the body to which rectal cancer spreads, metastatic rectal cancer may occur in other areas of the body as well. When metastatic rectal cancer is confined to the liver, or another single organ, your doctor may recommend a local treatment that targets the site of metastasis.
Cancer Treatment Centers of America offers comprehensive metastatic rectal cancer treatment options, including conventional therapies like radiation and chemotherapy, along with complementary medicine therapies to help reduce pain and other related symptoms.
Additional Rectal Cancer Information
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