My 40 year old husband was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer and was told it is incurable. What does that mean? He is halfway through chemotherapy (cycle 7 of 12) and has a possible HIPEC surgery ahead after a break when the chemo finishes. He’s responded well to chemo with tumors significantly reducing in size but the doctor said it’s still incurable. What does that mean? How long does he have to live? Is he basically dying?
Hi Greens
Welcome to our Online Community. My name is Tricia and I’m one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists .
I am sorry to hear that your husband has a diagnosis of an advanced bowel cancer which is understandably very difficult for you both. A stage 4 bowel cancer indicates the cancer has spread elsewhere and it is unlikely that it can be completely removed which will be why the team have used the term incurable.
Even with incurable cancers, they can still be treatable to help control symptoms, slow down the progression of the disease and extend peoples lives. It sounds like your husband is having such treatment at present with some further treatment planned.
There are various tests on the bowel cancer cells they will have carried out, to see if there are protein or gene changes that might help them understand the way the bowel cancer may behave for an individual and which treatments may or may not work for them. These results can also be valuable for advanced bowel cancer treatment decisions to see which treatments may help him specifically. So his treatments will be tailored to him.
As we are not directly involved with his care and unable to access NHS records, we are not able to comment on individuals’ specific circumstances and therefore cannot comment on how long your husband has to live. His team are the ones who will be able to give more information regarding this.
However, It is important to remember that discussing a life expectancy/prognosis , can never be an exact science even for his team and can only be an educated guess especially at the earlier stages of treatment. It will be dependant on how well your husband responds to treatment at each stage.
Its good to hear that the chemotherapy he is receiving, has already had some impact causing the tumours to significantly reduce in size halfway through the treatment. I hope he is tolerating the side effects well.
It is best just to take everything one step at a time rather than trying to look into the future as to what may or may happen as that is what you won’t know or be able to predict. So, concentrating on the chemotherapy treatment he is having now.
At the end of the chemotherapy, he will have further scans and assessment for the HIPEC treatment to see if he is a suitable candidate for this at that stage.
Its important to remember that your husband’s cancer is individual to him and sometimes looking at general information on the internet is not always helpful as too generalised. However there is some information on the Bowel cancer UK site that may be useful regarding the personal experience of a Stage 4 bowel cancer patient where he discusses how he has dealt with having such a diagnosis.
I hope you have some support from friends or family currently. It can be hard coping with feelings when a loved one has cancer and it is important to look after yourself too.
Sometimes being able to share experiences with others in similar situation can be invaluable. Our Family and Friends Forum offers this type of support. There is also a Bowel Cancer UK Stage 4 bowel cancer forum which may be useful for either of you.
Please don’t hesitate to get back in touch at any time.
Sending best wishes,
Tricia
Macmillan 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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