Colorectal cancer describes any cancer that affects the colon or rectum. In some cases, it is impossible to cure patients with this form of cancer. When this happens, doctors may use palliative systemic chemotherapy to reduce pain and improve a patient's quality of life.
Purpose
Palliative systemic chemotherapy for colorectal cancer works by putting a patient on a cycle of chemotherapy drugs in order to shrink the tumors, Colon Cancer Resource explains. This type of therapy will try to reduce pain and other symptoms.
Indications
Patients typically will only receive palliative systemic chemotherapy for colorectal cancer that has developed distant metastases, also known as stage IV colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer that has spread is difficult to cure, the National Cancer Institute explains, and the primary goal is to increase the patient's quality of life.
Effects
The effects of palliative systemic chemotherapy were analyzed in an article published in the Biomedical Journal in 2000, titled "Palliative Chemotherapy for Advanced Colorectal Cancer: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis." The study found that this treatment slowed the progression of colorectal cancer for most patients.
