Corel Medical Series: Cancer/Corel Medical Series: Cancer.iso/mac/Program/c08.dxr/00049_Field_SRC.c08.C.13.txt

Text File | 1997-01-28 | 1KB | 16 lines

• For patients with bulky or symptomatic liver metastases, one treatment option is tying off the hepatic artery,
  placing a tube (catheter) into the artery and injecting a material that blocks the blood flow to the tumor
  nodules in the liver. For optimal effectiveness, this is followed by chemotherapy . This can lead to substantial
  tumor regression. It can also cause severe toxic effects—abdominal pain, fever, nausea and a short-term
  worsening of the syndrome—but many patients do experience substantial relief from symptoms.

               Radiation  The role of radiation therapy in managing carcinoid tumors with distant metastasis is
               restricted to relief from symptoms, most commonly of bone involvement. However, localized metastasis will occasionally respond to radiation therapy.

Supportive Therapy  There are a number of ways to manage symptoms from metastatic disease with medication.
• Diarrhea will frequently respond to standard antidiarrheal medications such as Lomotil or tincture of opium
  and to dietary changes such as restricting consumption of foods high in fat.
• The somostatin analogue octreotide has recently been shown to be useful in improving symptoms of the
  carcinoid syndrome and may be life-saving in carcinoid crisis (sudden exacerbation of symptoms).
• Interferon-alpha preparations may have a role in controlling symptoms of the carcinoid syndrome and/or in
  arresting tumor growth.