Hello All,
This is my first post in this forum, I have to say that it's very very informative and supportive. Thanks to all the users for making it so.
Some context on his journey so far:
My dad (67) has been diagnosed with Stage 2A colon cancer. It's been a rough few months.
We first started noticing weight loss and tiredness. Took a few blood tests which pointed towards anemia (low hemoglobin levels). Tried to improve the levels through meds for about a month, when that did not work. Our local doc ordered an occult fecal blood test which was positive. Took abdomen CT which showed wall thickening and regional enlarged nodes.
In he went for a colonoscopy which found a malignant adenocarcinoma in the ascending colon confirmed by biopsy. Next step was research to find the best surgical oncologist in the city with a DaVinci robot and we successfully found a great one. Took a few more scans which did not show metastasis. Surgeon performed a right hemi-colectomy with complete mesocolic excision. He's recovering well from the surgery.
Pathology came back as:
- 0/25 nodes positive
- negative margins
- no LVI, PVI
- T3 tumor
- no perforation of colon wall or spread to nearby organs
- no tumor deposits
- MSI stable
- intermediate tumor budding
Note: Pre Surgery CEA was 5.49
So staged at 2A (T3N0M0). The surgical oncologist did not want to interfere in the chemo decision since it's already a well known debated grey area for 2A. So we were referred to a medical oncologist.
Our conversation with the oncologist was straight forward, they said that since it is not MSI-H, there would be a response to chemo and hence we're going to do a 3 month CapOx regime.
My questions:
1. From what I've researched the standard case for low risk 2A is either surveillance or Xeloda for six months. While we're definitely willing to do chemo if needed, CapOx seems too aggressive for the above features. I'm not sure if there are a lot of high risk features hence I am assuming it is low risk, please do correct me if I am wrong in that assumption, if it is high risk - then perhaps CapOx is warranted.
2. My major concern is whether my dad would be able to handle the chemo. I know 3 months is better than 6 months for neuropathy but still worried a bit about the Oxy. Would love to see some experiences from someone who's had had 3 months of CapOx / Xelox