Stage 3b Colon Cancer diagnosis - What typically happens after?

[Mahahkm]

Hello,

Thank you for taking the time out to read my post. I really appreciate it!

I was wondering if anyone had any advice/knowledge for me regarding stage 3 colon cancer.

We found out that my dad has diagnosed with Adenocarcinoma of the Colon about 3 weeks ago.

He had an immediate surgery right after and his tumor was sent for biopsy. Well, the pathology report just came in and it shows that its T3 with N1b. From what I've gathered, it seems to be Stage 3b.

I was wondering if anyone could help me figure out if :
- It's easily treatable?
- If the chances of survival increase if it's localized?
- Does it matter if the tumor was on the left or the right side of the intestines?
- What happens after diagnosis typically? - like what treatment's are typically used to treat it?
- Will it hurt him? He's 62 years old.
- Is there anything i can do to help - in terms of diet/exercise?
- Does stress increase my cancer cell spread?
- Will chemo be tough for him? How long does he have to chemo for?

Hope to hear from you soon and I'm sorry for the long post and all these questions!

[JJH]

Welcome to ColonTalk. You can start by downloading and reading the NCCN booklet on colon cancer below. It gives a good overview of the sitiuation.

NCCN Guidelines on Colon Cancer
https://www.nccn.org/patients/guidelines/colon/index.html

Typically, for Stage 3 colon cancer there will be a one month rest period after surgery then about 6 months of adjuvant "mop-up" chemotherapy. The most popular of the first-line adjuvant chemotherapies are FOLFOX or XELOX(CAPEOX). Some information on those is given in the links below.

Side effects of FOLFOX regimen
https://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=44542&p=321388#p321388

Side effects of XELOX (CAPEOX) regimen
https://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=59287&p=469490#p469490

After the 6 months of adjuvant chemotherapy there will be a five-year period of follow-up with blood tests and scans every few months.

If you like to read books, you might be interested in this one:

How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who's Sick
https://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Friend-Whos-Sick/dp/1610393740

For stress reduction, you can read this post:
https://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=59711&p=474430#p474430

[boxhill]

To answer a few of your questions:

-Yes, it is treatable, ("Easy" is kind of meaningless. Chemo is not like taking an aspirin, but in most cases it isn't the kind of all out torture we read about in days of yore.)
-Yes, the chances of longer term survival are better if it has not metastsized (ie, is "local")
-Yes, sidedness matters, in practical terms because sidedness is associated with certain genetic factors that affect available treatments. (There is a lot more info out there on sidedness.) Also, right side tumors tend to be found at a later stage. (That point is moot for your father, of course.)
-I don't know what you mean by "will it hurt him."
-Normally, the surgeon turns the patient over to an oncologist. Adjuvant chemo is typical for Stage 3b
-Everyone reacts differently to chemo. It is never a walk in the park, but for some it is relatively easy--I, for one, never had nausea--and for others the side effects can be worse.

You need to create a sig that answers a lot of relevant questions so that we can give you better info, including:

Where was the tumor and what procedure was done.
How many lymph nodes were sampled and how many were malignant.
What did the pathology regarding BRAF, KRAS, and dMMR/MSS/MSI status.

Edited to add: Sorry, I see you've answered some of these. The genetic info--BRAF, etc--is really important.

Does your father have a temporary or permanent colostomy? Have they said anything about possible radiation?

[boxhill]

Here is something that pertains to sidedness:

https://twitter.com/pashtoonkasi/status ... 32518?s=21

[ANDRETEXAS]

My signature gives a pretty good description of my journey with Stage IIIb colon cancer of the cecum. There will be side effects, and there are many people on this forum that can help you in discussing those and other areas. You will have many questions. Just don't use google statistics to try to formulate a possible scenario for your father. Each case and individual is different in so many ways.