Is "inoperable" always definite?

FormerMember over 2 years ago

1 reply
39 subscribers
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Hi :)

My mum has recently been diagnosed with small bowel cancer with mets to the liver.

She is commencing chemo next week, however the oncologists have said that her primary tumour and mets are inoperable and incurable.

I understand you cannot give me a specific answer to this question as all individuals are different, but is it a possibility that someone could hypothetically go from inoperable to operable providing their cancer has a good response to chemo? Her oncologist has not been clear about this and appears to be a very glass-half-empty person.

Basically, I'm just wondering if "inoperable" and "incurable" is actually a permanent label...

Hope this makes sense.

Thank you,

K xx

Amy C- Macmillan over 2 years ago

Hi ,

Welcome to our online community and thanks for posting your question. I’m sorry to hear your mum’s bowel cancer has spread to her liver. It’s only natural to want to know more about what treatments may be available.

A team of specialists will have met to discuss the best possible treatment for your mum. This is called a multidisciplinary team (MDT) for bowel cancer. When deciding on the best treatment options, doctors consider the type of bowel cancer, as well as things like age/ general health/ symptoms and stage of cancer (where it is).

Often if a cancer has already spread, surgery is not offered because the cancer cannot be cured, and surgery is unlikely to improve overall survival. This means the risk of side effects and complications of surgery out weight the potential benefits.

This is not always an absolute and sometimes if the cancer causes a blocked bowel for example, surgery may be reconsidered. This is usually more to relieve and control symptoms than to treat the cancer.

You may find this information about treating advanced bowel cancer and bowel cancer that has spread to the liver helpful to read through.

We would always encourage you, and your Mum, to speak to the cancer team looking after her. You can usually contact them via the bowel cancer specialist nurse or the consultant’s secretary. They are the ones who know the most about your mum and what treatment options may be available now, or possibly considered in the future. And why they have made the decision to offer the treatment they have.

Supporting a loved one with cancer can cause a whole range of different emotions and we often find we can explore some of these more difficult to answer questions better while having a chat on the phone. If this is something you feel up to doing, and think might help, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

I wish your mum all the best with starting chemotherapy next week, and please don’t hesitate to back in touch if you need any more information or support.

Best wishes,

Amy C, Cancer Information Nurse Specialist

You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email.

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Is "inoperable" always definite?