new hope for patients with liver metastases - new hope for patients with liver metastases -

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New Hope for Patients with Liver Metastases

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Last month at Rambam Health Care Campus (RHCC), a patient with colon cancer and liver metastases successfully underwent an innovative treatment regime. This treatment, which combines surgical intervention, chemotherapy and biological medicine, offers new hope for patients with advanced disease.

There is now new hope for colon cancer patients. A new treatment that combines surgical intervention, chemotherapy and biological medicines gives a second chance to patients with metastases in the liver that were previously considered untreatable. Based on German research published in The Lancet, the treatment incorporates use of Erbitux, an agent that targets cancer cells, leading to reduction in the size of metastases. This reduction eases surgical intervention in patients otherwise deemed unresectable.

In light of this publication, medical centers in Israel have begun employing this treatment. At RHCC in early June, 2010, one such patient underwent a successful operation for colon cancer liver metastases.

“This is big news for patients who until few years ago had very short life expectancy. Now they receive the gift of extended life,” says Dr. Arie Arish, director of the Hepato-Biliary Surgery Service. “The combination of chemotherapy with Erbitux reduces the size of metastases in the liver and makes it possible to perform surgery on patients who were previously considered.” A survival rate of over five years after this surgery is relatively high: about 40%. Additionally, the chance of living another ten years after the operation stands at 20%.

Rambam medical center has established a multidisciplinary approach to tackle a wide range of liver diseases. According to Dr. Arish, RHCC offers patients a comprehensive answer to their needs..

The hospital’s center for liver disease is the site of joint efforts of professionals from radiology, hepatology, oncology, surgery, nuclear medicine and other fields.

The Hepato-Biliary Surgery Service has entered into extensive cooperation with the innovative dedicated liver disease center, Centre Hepato Biliaire at the Paul Brosse Hospital in Villejuif, France. The center’s world-renowned liver surgeon, Dr. Daniel Azoulay, recently came to Rambam to assist in various surgical procedures. In addition, Bile Duct and Liver Surgery expert, Prof. Henri Bismuth, who directs the Henri Bismuth Hepatobiliary Institute at Centre Hepato Biliaire last fall visited Rambam and agreed to assist in developing the RHCC center.In another joint effort, a French anesthesiologist from Centre Hepato Biliaire will shortly visit and work at Rambam. Later this year, an Israeli anesthesiologist from RHCC will reciprocate by working at the French center. While cooperation is now based on clinical issues, Dr. Arish expects it to extend into joint research projects in the near future.