How many different treatments are there?

Hi ,

If you know your mum’s cell type you can work out what treatment options are open to her .

It normally starts with first line chemo till that loses effectiveness then they would move onto a second line chemotherapy.

https://bowelcancerorguk.s3.amazonaws.com/Publications/TreatingAdvancedBowelCancer_BowelCancerUK.pdf

This booklet explains it better than I can . 
I think it’s where the skill of the oncologist comes into play .

take care ,

Court 

Hi court,

Thanks for your reply, I've just had a look at the booklet it says there are like 5 different combinations but do they only give 1st line and 2nd line and then that's it? So worrying... 

There are people who are literally on over 100 chemos of one combination as long as it keeps working . If you look over on Bowel cancer U.K. forum some of their members have been on it for six and seven years .

They can also sometimes repurpose previous chemotherapy in some situations but it’s down to individual oncologist. Some are very proactive . Your mum can also get a second opinion at any point in time to see how another oncologist would handle her care .

Take care ,

Court

Hey,

Yes I have read some people are on there chemo for years it's amazing! So do we think there is more than just 1st line option and 2nd line option? In other terms is it as many different chemo options as her oncologist thinks? He seems good and she always enjoys speaking to him her care is with the christie. 

Well she could not be in better hands.  I don’t know for each cell type but the last I looked at my mum’s there was around three  main ones and they sometimes match in biological agents etc . 
I would think they would be pretty progressive at Christie’s .

Then there can be clinical trails and new treatments to investigate. Christie’s seem to do a lot of the trials .

Take care ,

court 

Thanks Court, 

You've been amazing once again with the info! I hope so she always goes to these meetings on her own regarding her care so we don't know all the ins and outs and we don't like to pry too much either... we can only rely I suppose on what the oncologists tell us its just so difficult with all the waiting games all the time....