No surgery offered

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My husband was diagnosed with colorectal cancer a year ago His tumour was 2.5mm but the Liver Mets were multiple and affected every section of his liver. He was told there was no point in attempting to remove the original tumour as it wont extend his left. He has just finished second line chemo and we are due to review C T scan results. His oncologist is not proposing any treatment beyond 'wait and see. I cannot understand why surgical removal of the colorectal tumour has been categorically ruled out. His CEA numbers are significantly lower than they were but still not in normal range. Has anyone else been refused surgery?

court over 5 years ago

Hi Trentlady

It is very confusing . My mum had her primary tumour in for the first year of chemo . This is purely what I have gleaned from various surgeons and oncologists . They are conservative with surgery in a stage 4 setting as any surgical set back , poor healing , surgical complications can literately take months to recover from and knock chemo back which has a major role in disease control with the liver . If the primary tumour is not causing blockage or pain they are inclined to prioritise chemo . However if they do become an issue then that changes the clinical priority and they may operate then .

My mum did eventually get her primary tumour removed when she had a liver resection . She had both done at once . I don’t think they do that so much anymore either . People seem to report separate operations now .

Once he has his scans reviewed they will look at all the possibilities but it is also possible to see what another clinician advises . Second opinions are really valuable even if it’s for peace of mind .

Hope the scans show great shrinkage .

take care ,

Court

Helpline Number 0808 808 0000

Trentlady over 5 years ago in reply to court

Thankyou so much for your reply . Everytime we ask the Oncologist, who is a lovely man, whether the primary tumour can be removed, he looks at us with such incredulity. We had a second opinion by a Liver Surgeon who told us because all sections have mets ,resection is pointless as there is no cancer free tissue or lobe. The Primary tumour grew very quickly beyond it's original size when there was an enforced gap in Chemo due to DVT and Sepsis. We know he is lucky to be here.