Sometimes they do chemo prior to the op, sometimes afterwards. I can say that with mine they were aiming at curative, it wasn't so they had another go this year with another 6 months of chemo - hopefully that one will do the job!
The best person to ask the question will be to your oncologist team. They usually provide you with a clinical nurse specialist (chemo nurse) -it might be worth asking the query of them as everyones cancer journey is different and they'll have been part of the MDT meeting where this was discussed.
Bowel cancer chemo is generally not recognised as curative but can be very effective at shrinking the tumour . This preserves the surrounding tissue and can lead to better margins . Surgery for bowel cancer is regarded as the gold standard and is done with curative intent in most situations . Obviously there are variables . But that’s generally the rule of thumb . However things can change . My mum
was actually inoperable and chemo shrank the tumours off the screen and opened up surgical options .
