Treatment

Main treatments for bowel cancer

The treatment you'll have for bowel cancer depends on:

the size of the cancer
if the cancer is in your colon or rectum, or both
if it has spread to other parts of your body
if the cancer has certain genetic changes
your age and general health

You may be offered a combination of treatments including surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and targeted medicines.

Your specialist treatment team will:

explain the treatments, benefits and side effects
work with you to make a treatment plan that's best for you
help you to manage the side effects of treatment

If you have any questions or worries, you can talk to your specialist team.

Surgery

Surgery may be carried out to remove cancer from the bowel. Part or all of the bowel around the cancer may also need to be removed.

To help your recovery, you may need a colostomy or ileostomy, which may be temporary or permanent.

You'll be supported through surgery and recovery by your specialist treatment team.

Find out more

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is medicine that kills cancer cells.

You may have chemotherapy for bowel cancer:

before surgery to shrink the cancer and make it easier to remove
after surgery to try to stop the cancer coming back
if you're unable to have surgery
if cancer has spread to other parts of your body

Find out more

Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy uses radiation to kill cancer cells. A machine is used to target beams of radiation directly at tumours.

You may have radiotherapy for bowel cancer if:

you have cancer in your rectum
the cancer has spread to other parts of your body

Find out more

Radiotherapy for rectal cancer (Cancer Research UK)

Targeted medicines and immunotherapy

Targeted cancer medicines aim to stop the cancer from growing or slow its growth.

Immunotherapy is where medicines are used to help your immune system kill cancer cells.

Targeted medicines or immunotherapy are sometimes used to treat advanced bowel cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.

Find out more

Targeted and immunotherapy drugs for metastatic bowel cancer (Cancer Research UK)

What happens if you've been told your cancer cannot be cured

If you've been diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer, it may be hard to treat and not possible to cure.

The aim of treatment will be to slow down the growth and spread of the cancer, help with the symptoms and help you live longer.

Finding out cancer cannot be cured can be very hard news to take in.

You'll be referred to a team of doctors and nurses called a symptom control team or palliative care team.

They will help you to manage your symptoms and make you feel more comfortable.

The palliative care team can also help you and your loved ones get any other support you need.

Find out more

Sexual Health Advice

Throughout this series we have help and advice on staying healthy, dealing with Sexually Transmitted Infections, the risks of each type of the most popular gay sex and what to do if the sex you have is not consentual. The topics covered in this series include:

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