Appendix Cancer

Appendix cancer is one of the rarest forms of cancer and also one of the deadliest. Statistics show that it attacks approximately 600 to 1000 people a year and on the average every one of the dies. Most studies don't even give a survival rate but simply put on the charts "very poor".

Appendix cancer usually doesn't become apparent on its own account but rather when the patient is being treated for something else because there usually aren't any symptoms.

Appendix cancer is usually divided into two groups, carcinoid tumors and non-carcinoid tumors.

Carcinoid tumors are usually found in women in their forties and most of them are found on the tip of the appendix, located in such a way that they do not obstruct any of the normal bodily functions and therefore do not give any warning signs. Small ones that have not become cancerous are usually dealt with simply by the removal of the tumor and the appendix. Larger ones require more aggressive surgery, and the right colon and lymph nodes in that area are usually removed in addition to the appendix and the tumor. This type of surgery is known as cytoreductive surgery. It is sometimes but not always followed by intravenous chemotherapy.

Non-carcinoid tumors, also known as mucinous cystadenocarcinoma, grow on those cells which make up the lining of the inside of the appendix, known as the epithetial cells. In the production of these tumors, the epithetial cells form a gelatinous substance known as mucin.

Non-carcinoid tumors are apt to spread more rapidly through the abdominal region than are carcinoid tumors. Non-carcinoid tumors often become life threatening bowel obstructions. At this point, symptoms such as weight loss, atrophy of the muscles, loss of appetite and fatigue, abdominal pain and bloating, nausea, vomiting, constipation or diarrhea and the inability to pass gas become apparent, but only when the tumors have reached the last stages. It has also been noted that in these last stages some people develop a low temperature.

When a diagnosis of appendix cancer has been made, the patient often works with a team of doctors rather than one specific doctor to determine some sort of treatment plan.

Because of the very dire prognosis of appendix cancer, the patient is often encouraged to consider working with some sort of clinical research which is being done.

In being a volunteer to participate as a part of clinical research, the patient is given the opportunity to try the latest possible drugs that are being tested for appendix cancer. They will be given the best care possible, with the understanding that these drugs may not work, yet maybe, just maybe they will. They'll be helping not only themselves but the medical professionals doing the research and maybe, just maybe, others who get this dreadful disease.