I have been diagnosed with Stage III rectal cancer at a local teaching hospital. I was told the standard treatment is radiation with oral chemo for 6 weeks, a 6 week break while the radiation continues to work, then surgery, then "mop up" chemo. I went for a second opinion at a well-known cancer hospital. They agreed with the diagnosis. They also recommend the same treatment; however, they recommend doing it in a different order. They are a high volume cancer center and have had success with doing the chemo first (for 4 months) then the radiation, then the surgery. They will do a sigmoidoscopy at the 2 month mark to make sure the chemo is working and the tumor is shrinking.
I planned to get chemo locally but the local teaching hospital is not on board. They claim they only practice evidence-based medicine so they only give the standard care and they are not on board with deviating from the standard care. Has anyone else received treatment in a different order? I am now second guessing my decision to do the treatment in the order recommended by the cancer center. Any help is appreciated.