Stage 4 Bowel Cancer with peritoneal and liver metastasis.

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Hi everyone. Newbie here looking for some advice re my Mum’s recent diagnosis.

May 2021 my Mum was diagnosed with T4 Bowel Cancer. The tumour was successfully removed via emergency laparotomy& colostomy, she then had 4x cycles of chemo for preventive measures. Her 3 monthly blood tests following this were clear.

Last month my Mum had her routine blood test which revealed a raised CEA of 17. CT scan was clear but a PET scan showed metastasis to the liver and peritoneum. She is completely fit and well, asymptotic and we would have had NO idea without these tests.

She had an appt with her oncologist last week and there were some positives and some negatives- the tumours are all tiny (under 10mm) and the oncologist said they were caught very early. However as the spread is in both the liver and the peritoneum this makes any potential surgery much more complicated.

By the sounds of it, once there is spread to the peritoneum a cure often isn’t possible but surgery seems to have a better prognosis than chemo which I think is palliative at this stage.

She has been referred to The Christie’s to consider surgery/ management re the peritoneal metastasis and whilst awaiting their response

the plan is to do 6 cycles of FOLFOX chemo in the hope this will stabilise/ shrink the tumours so that the surgeons may make an exception and consider her for surgery.

I’ve read lots about the HIPEC CRS surgery which I know The Christie’s and a few other hospitals offer. I wonder if anyone knows whether HIPEC is possible when there is also spread to the liver?

I’m praying for a miracle. My Mum is 51 and I’m terrified to lose her.

Any advice/ hope would be greatly appreciated! X

court over 3 years ago

Hi Chickpea111

Welcome to the forum . So sorry to hear about your mum . If you click on my user name you can see my mum’s journey through a stage 4 diagnosis.

It sounds as though your mum has been picked up early . I am going to tag in process as she knows a bit more about a spread to this particular area and can give you more insight into Christie’s . However if you want some encouragement click on her user name .

My mum went straight to chemotherapy and it’s a good plan . It allows the visible and micro disease to be tackled at once . Gaining that stability first then reassessing to see what is possible surgically worked out well for my mum .

My understanding is Hipec centres can have some subtle differences in their criteria but I am sure I have read of some smaller liver resections occurring at the same time as hipec surgery . However you might want to join bowelcancer U.K. Facebook group for stage 4 patients as I think there are some knowledge people on the subject there . The name that comes up a lot in terms of second opinions is Mr Murphy in London . He seems to do some of the more extensive surgery . Although it’s not a recommendation as I have no experience and we are in Scotland.
It’s good your mum is in good health out with cancer . My mum was the same and it helped greatly .
Take care ,

court

Helpline Number 0808 808 0000

Chickpea111 over 3 years ago in reply to court

Hey Court,

Thanks so much for your advice and response. Both yours and process stories are amazing- so happy for you both and has given me a little glimmer of hope!

I will definitely check out the Bowel Cancer facebook forum for some more advice but it’s really helpful to know that there are some surgeons that may be willing to look at more complex/ extensive cases.

In the meantime keeping my fingers crossed that this Chemo does it’s job

Thanks again Court X