Should I have chemotherapy very confused!

Hi Strong lady

Thanks for getting in touch with us and welcome to the online community. My name’s Simon and I’m one of the Cancer Information Nurses on the Macmillan Support Line.

I can see from your profile that you are a member of our online bowel cancer forum. I do hope that you are finding membership of this group beneficial for you.

It sounds fortunate that your bowel cancer was detected at a treatable stage, especially as you had no symptoms. It also appears that your surgery was successful, and that the hospital team may have re-staged your cancer as a result.

You mention that pre-operative staging was T3 N1 M0 but that post operatively you were told there were no lymph nodes involved. The lack of lymph node involvement reduces the risk of the cancer recurring and it may have been re-staged as a T2 N0 M0 cancer. It is likely that it is for this reason that they have suggested not to have chemotherapy as the small benefits of having the chemotherapy may be outweighed by the greater risk of side effects of treatment and impact on your quality of life.

Making treatment decisions can be difficult and confusing. It’s good to remember that you are being treated by specialists in their field and that their recommendations are based on evidence-based practice gained from research and clinical trials.

If you have a nurse specialist at the hospital, we suggest that you contact them for a further discussion and explanation of your cancer staging and treatment recommendations. If not, then you can always contact your consultant’s secretary to arrange a further appointment to discuss your options.

I hope this information is of some help.

Best wishes

Simon:  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.

Ref/SMJ/ LJ