What are the treatment options for recurrence and/or metastasis?
The approach to treating a recurrence to the original site or metastasis to another area of the body is dependent on location, size of the newly discovered tumor tissue as well as the impact of any previous surgery or radiation therapy to that part of the body. Beyond recurrence to the original tumor site, two common locations for metastasis are the lungs and liver. Physicians will typically attempt to follow the NCCN clinical practice guidelines of surgery followed by radiation for recurrence or metastases. However, previous surgery or radiation to the recurrence site can make these options high risk. If surgery is not an option, radiation alone will be evaluated. If both surgery and radiation are ruled out due to the high risk of side effects, experimental drug therapies might be pursued.
