Colorectal cancer starts in the rectum or colon. Both of these organs are located in the lower portion of the digestive system. The colon is also termed as the large intestine. The rectum is located at the end of the colon.

The doctors may use staging as a guideline to figure out how far along the cancer is. It’s important to know the stage of the cancer so that the doctors can come up with the best treatment plan for you and give you an estimate of your long-term outlook.

Stage 1 colorectal cancer is known as the earliest stage. The stages advance up to stage 4, which is the most complex stage. The stages of colorectal cancer are as follows:

• Stage 1. The cancer has penetrated the mucosal lining of the colon or rectum but has not spread to the organ walls.
• Stage 2. The cancer has spread to the walls of the colon or rectum but hasn’t affected the lymph nodes or nearby tissues so far.
• Stage 3. The cancer has moved to the lymph nodes but not to other parts of the body till now. Generally, one to three lymph nodes are involved at this stage.
• Stage 4. The cancer has reached other distant organs, such as the liver or lungs.

At stage IV, although the disease has spread to other parts of your body, it can still be treated. The doctor has options to help you live longer. A cure is possible if the disease's spread is restricted. To get the best care, consult a doctor who specializes in treating this stage of the condition.

Treatment Options for Stage 4 Colon Cancer :

The treatment options available at this stage of colon cancer may not be able to cure the disease. However, going for the treatment option may help you to live longer. At this stage, when cancer has spread too much, going for chemotherapy is the last and one of the best options. Even if there are some chances of getting your cancer cured, the doctor will suggest you go for surgery. Moreover, surgery can also opt-in order to get relief from the symptoms of cancer. Targeted therapies when a particular organ is excessively affected is also a treatment option as we look at stage 4 colon cancer survival rate. However, the treatment for a particular patient also depends on their health and other such aspects. Radiation therapy is also done by doctors as the last hope to cure cancer.

Surgery for Stage 4 Colon Cancer :

A surgeon or a doctor will only advise and go-ahead for the surgery if the health of the patient is good and the risks involved in the same are not that high. But if the cancer is spread to a limit even at stage 4, taking the risk to cure cancer is worth it. The surgery includes the removal of part of the colon where the cancer is spread in the organ of the body part. It will not only give you relief but also will prevent cancer from spreading to different parts of your body. After the surgery is done, you may experience some pain along with side effects. But on the passage of time and after some days of the surgery, you will get relief from the same and will be able to live a better life. The type of surgery also depends on stage 4 colon cancer survival rate by age.

Chemotherapy:

Chemotherapy is a treatment used by the doctors where they use some related drugs to kill the cancer cells in the patient’s body. There are a number of such drugs that are introduced to the body in a number of forms. It is a widely taken treatment in case of cancer as it is reliable and has a high success rate. Chemotherapy can be given to a patient before as well as after the surgery. There are specialized drugs for stage 4 cancer treatment. Some side effects such as hair loss are common after chemotherapy. One of the major advantages of chemotherapy is that you may not have to go for risky surgical operations if the results of it are positive. Also, cancer cells will also not spread in your body once chemotherapy is stage 4 cancer terminal.

Radiation Therapy:

Another successful way to cure cancer by destroying cancer cells is radiation therapy. In this treatment, high radiation waves are sued to destroy the cancer cells. It is one of the easiest ways to treatment for colon cancer. To make the healing process more effective as well as faster, people often combine it with chemotherapy and go for both simultaneously. Moreover, it can also be done before starting the surgery for tumor removal, passing the high- energy radiation, and shrinking the cancer cells.

In some cases, there are some leftover cancer cells even after the surgery. The process of radiation therapy is opted to remove those leftover cancer cells. If the cancer is not that serious but causing severe pain, also, in that case, people o for radiation therapy. In the body parts such as the brain and bones, where surgery is not easy to do, an attempt is given to kill the cancer cells by radiation therapy.

Hepatic Artery Infusion:

If cancer spreads and reaches your liver, then the treatment which a patient gets is called hepatic artery infusion. This treatment is also a kind of chemotherapy since a drug is introduced to your body. Basically, a specialized drug for liver cancer cells is pumped only into your liver. It not only helps your body to recover at a faster rate, but also keeps you safe from a number of side effects. This is because the drug will not be reaching to any other body part except for the liver. For more clarification on the topic, you can also look for how does cancer spread.

Ablation or Embolization:

Radiofrequency ablation is also one of the ways to treat cancer tumors. In case your cancer tumor is small in size and is in your liver, then this is the best treatment option. Basically, heat from radio waves is used to destroy that tumor inside your liver.

On the other hand, embolization is a technique that injects some kind of drugs into the tumors inside your liver. It not only blocks the artery but also controls the blood flow to the tumor inside your liver. Now since the blood flow at your tumor is blocked, it will not be able to spread to the other parts of your body. You may also get relief from a number of symptoms after receiving this therapy. Moreover, this is also a treatment option for metastatic colorectal cancer.

Palliative Care:

This is special care as well as attention that is given to the patients that are going through a serious stage of cancer and surgery. To help the patient getting over this difficult time, emotional as well as physical support is provided in palliative care. This can be given to the patient anywhere by a specialized physician. After this treatment, the patients feel emotionally and spiritually strong. Thus, it contributes a lot to help to cure cancer. Some people may be stressed with the question that how long can you live with stage 4 cancer. But palliative care gives them all emotional support that a patient requires while they are going through a surgery. Symptoms like severe pain are also addressed in palliative care. The cost of the same is often covered by the insurance company. Else, if the patient is not able to afford it, they can also look for a social worker.