Chances of curing bowel cancer?
My grandfather is 80 years old and has bowel cancer. He has had radiotherapy treatment and has recently got news that the tumor has shrunk, but not gone. What does this mean? The doctors have said there is nothing else they can do but if anything else comes up, that he must go back to them and they’ll re-examine the situation. Will they be able to do anything else if it gets worse? What are the chances of it getting worse? Is there a chance the tumor will continue to shrink and will disappear? Can you give me some more information on this? Thanks a lot. Any help is appreciated.
Tagged with: bowel cancer • doctors • tumor
Filed under: Bowels
angie (68)
Yes it will get worse eventually. Unless the tumor is completely removed there is no chance for cure. It sounds like they are only treating his symptoms.
EDIT: It’s cancer of course it contains rapidly dividing cells. There is no doubt it will not shrink and go away on its own. The information missing here that is needed is the stage.
You need to ask your grandfather these questions. If the tumor has "shrunk" – was it very large to begin with or was it smaller to begin with. Does it contain rapidly dividing cells or is this a slow-growing tumor? There are too many pieces of missing information in order to give accurate advice on this. There is no way of knowing if this tumor will continue to shrink and disappear or if, without treatment, it will again begin to grow. Anyone with existing cancer can always get worse.