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What Causes Pain In Upper Leg And Difficulty In Walking Inspite Of Having Rectal Cancer?

Posted on Tue, 20 May 2014

Question: my husband has terminal rectal cancer. he is on Irinotecan chemo .he is suffering pain in his right upper leg and finding it hard to walk on it. regards wife XXXXXXX

Answered by Dr. Rohit Gulati (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
may be metastatic foci

Detailed Answer:
Anorectal carcinoma is known to cause metastases to vertebral column, i.e. back bone. These lesions cause swelling of the area where they are present leading to pressure on the nerves that supply the lower limbs. Any pressure on the nerves that reach thighs may cause pain in one or both the thighs.

You need to see a spine surgeon/pain physician who may require an MRI to confirm the diagnosis. If the diagnosis is what I assume, your husband may require vertebroplasty to get relief from the pain.

This type of pain can occur even when the patient is on chemotherapy and you may need to see your oncologist who may need to revise the dosage.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad