Just been diagnosed

Hi Kokie and a warm welcome to the board. When you say ganglions/satellites do you mean lymph nodes? (I appreciate that you’re probably translating this from French into English. Is it ganglions lymphatiques or do you mean that the cancer has spread to other parts of the body? 

The treatment you describe is very effective in shrinking the tumour and also attacking any other affected areas. The next few months will be tough but we will help and support you through this anyway we can

Take care

Karen x

Hello Karen

Indeed it means only lymph nodes are touched, no spread to other organs.

MRI and Pet Scan mentionned one lymph nodes of 8mm and other satellites, multiple lymph nodes on mesorectum. 

That's why I think i'm stage 3 C. Which is worrying me a lot.

Hi Kokie  it is good to read your story. I too am scared because a recent PET scan shows a ‘localised’ Stage 3 rectal cancer tumour but it involves a couple of my nearby lymph nodes as well. 

I am about to start ChemoRadiotherapy on April 1st, then a break, then Chemotherapy, then surgery (I think). If that happens then it will have to be done at a large city quite far away from where I live because my local hospital in the east of England cannot do the complicated surgery. (Luckily I will have the Neoadjuvant treatment nearby).

I am trying to stay positive and I have read a couple of very happy stories on this forum that the ChemoRadiotherapy can shrink the cancer and the patient didn’t need surgery! I know it is a small chance but let’s hope. 

You are young and strong - and positive thinking is so important.

Bon chance! 

Hi Kokie No spread to other organs is good news. Your staging at this point is provisional and your ‘official’ staging will be assessed by the pathology lab after surgery, Try not to focus on the staging for now as there is nothing you personally can do to change that. Your medical team look to be providing you with the best course of treatment so focus on getting through each stage of that, 1 step at a time, and go from there?

Take care

Karen x

Thank you!

Are you doing the prodige 23 treatment also?

Unlike you, I am starting with chemo, then radiochimio.

I wonder why you start with radio chimio first

Thank you Karen.

Yes I need to go one step at the time.

Do you know people that had the Prodige 23 treatment ?

Is it efficient?

I don’t know Kokie … I wondered this too.

Perhaps it is the regime here. I was only told Total Neoadjuvant Therapy first for 5 weeks, then a break, then more scans then Chemotherapy. 

Perhaps Kareno62 will know if it is different treatment styles in different countries …? 

I think the Prodige 23 trial looks to be the same as the UK Foxtrot trial? Back in 2016 when I was diagnosed chemo was given after surgery but the trials have shown that it is just as effective (if not more effective) to be given before. I think the patient is also in a stronger position to tolerate the chemo than after having had surgery.

Im not sure what difference it makes having the chemo before or after the chemo radiotherapy but I suppose the overall effect is the same? x

These are the results 

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/.../

In my case, we did radiation first then chemo. The stated reason was that radiation would relieve some of my symptoms faster than chemo. And it did. 

I was told that there was no evidence that the order impacted outcome. I think the most typical order is chemo followed by radiation as you are doing.