Desmoid Tumors

Treatment

Desmoid tumors can be treated with surgery, radiation, hormone therapy or medications. Often a combination of these treatments offers the best chance of success.

• Surgery. Surgeons will remove the tumor if it is safe to do so. You may receive chemotherapy and radiation before surgery to reduce the tumor or after surgery to kill remaining cells.
• Chemotherapy. If you need chemotherapy, you may receive a combination of tumor-fighting drugs, with or without surgery and radiation.
• Radiation therapy. Radiation may be used as a supplement to surgery, delivered before or after surgery, or in cases when the tumor cannot be safely removed. Depending upon the tumor's size, shape and location, tumors are treated using 3-D conformal radiation therapy or intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), both highly precise technologies.
• Medications. Mayo Clinic doctors may use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and other medications to treat desmoid tumors.
• Hormone therapy. Hormone therapy may be effective at controlling desmoid tumors and decreasing symptoms.