Hello, my husband was diagnosed with bowel cancer in December 2025, we were told that ut was T4 N2 they said they could not operate at the time as the cancer was attached to some organs they couldn't touch, they got a second opinion from another specialist and he said leave it alone, he is receiving chemo folfox, he has 2 more cycles to go, he is now in hospital with pockets of infections in his back, he has a couple of drains in atm, he could not receive immunotherapy as the cancer would not respond, the hospital has said the cancer is shrinking which is good, I am worried sick as I don't know yhe next step, when I speak to yhe surgeon he says we will speak at a later date is this normal
Thank you
Firstly, sorry to hear your husband is going through such a rough time. The fact that the tumour is shrinking is great news. The surgeon would want to wait until the he full treatment is completed before speaking with you, that is normal. I'm only guessing here, but I imagine the options may well be different depending on how much the tumor has shrunk.
Interestingly my GP was talking about immunotherapy, when I mentioned it to my oncologist he kind of rolled his eyes, apparently immunotherapy only works in a tiny fraction of bowel cancer cases.
Good luck, focus on that positive, the cancer is shrinking.
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