Post Radiation-Chemo evaluation

[RK]

I have been asking my oncologist and radiologist about assessing the results of the shrinkage on my tumor from the chemo and radiation and they say they won't know till surgery.

Is this common? Do you go thru all this radiation and chemo only to wait for the surgeon to open you up and see what's inside?

With stage 3 rectal cancer on the edge between continuing with normal functions or having to have a bag, I am concerned as to what is happening before we enter an operation room.

If anyone can tell me there experience here... I would appreciate it.

[missjv]

hi,
im affraid the only way to accurately confirm tumor size is surgery once it is removed because you also need clear margins around the tumor itself to make sure all the cancer is gone. scans while they are good only estimate tumor size at least thats what i was told. good luck!

missjv

[Loopy369]

I've been told exactly the same, luckily there appeared to be enough margin for the surgeon to operate anyway but as they can't see microscopic mets which are likely there once it's spread to some lymph nodes the chemoradiotherapy really does a great job of killing the bits they can't see and stopping it coming back.

I'm halfway through 5 weeks of radio and on my fifth week of chemo and my tumour appears to have stopped bleeding! At last after 5 months!

[Lifes2short]

That was the case with my tumor as well. The tumor had grown into my sphicter wall and I knew ahead of time that I would end up with a colostomy. When they opened me up, there was nothing left of the original tumor. They did, however, remove my entire rectum and sphicter and 26 surrounding lymph nodes. 19 of the nodes turned out to be cancerous.

Though a scan won't really help them know how much of your rectum will be removed, it can be helpful in some cases. My docs didn't bother with a scan - I had had one a month before diagnosis. I kept asking for a scan to check my liver and they didn't think it was necessary. A month after my surgery they did a scan and found mets in my liver. If they'd known this beforehand, perhaps my surgery would have been different. Tough call - liver resection AND rectal resection would be a huge and dangerous surgery. I can't honestly say that it would have made a difference in my surgery and/or treatment plan. But looking back on it all, I would have rather known sooner than later.