Adjuvant chemotherapy
If you do need chemotherapy, your doctor may refer you for adjuvant chemotherapy which works like a vaccine to help prevent the cancer from recurring.
Adjuvant chemotherapy is used when your cancer is considered to be curable.
The treatment lasts for about six months and then you will have a follow up appointment every six months for five years after the procedure, plus an annual colonoscopy to check that the cancer has not returned.
Palliative chemotherapy
If your cancer has spread, palliative chemotherapy is used to control, rather than cure cancer.
Palliative chemotherapy will prolong and increases your quality of life.
Considering your quality of life
Without palliative chemotherapy, in most cases, your prognosis may mean you have about nine to 12 months to live but with palliative chemotherapy your life span can extend to 24 months and beyond.
Chemotherapy plus monoclonal antibodies will not only stretch lifespan, but reduces pain caused by bleeding and obstruction.
What I tell my patients is that the side effects of chemotherapy, which are often transient, are a small price to pay for avoiding debilitating pain and having more time to spend with your loved ones.
