Cancerbackup: Chemotherapy

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Q&As on this topic

1. My wife is 60 and has had an operation for colon cancer. We have been told it is Dukes B. What does this mean and is it likely she will have chemotherapy as well?

last reviewed: 07.09.2005

2. My husband is 65 and has had an operation for colon cancer. We have been told it is Dukes' C and that he may need chemotherapy. What does Dukes' C mean and how is it treated?

last reviewed: 07.09.2005

3. I am having chemotherapy for a bowel cancer. They are giving me 5FU and folinic acid. I asked my doctor what folinic acid was and he said it was a vitamin. How can a vitamin help treat my cancer?

last reviewed: 07.09.2005

4. I have a large bowel cancer and liver secondaries. I have had chemotherapy with fluorouracil and leucovorin which helped but things are getting worse again now. My doctor has suggested a new drug called oxaliplatin. Can you tell me something about this?

last reviewed: 07.09.2005

5. My mother has secondary cancer in her liver from a bowel cancer. She has been told she should have six months chemotherapy into a vein in her arm. Some years ago my aunt had a similar problem but he had chemotherapy directly into her liver, is this better?

last reviewed: 13.09.2005

6. I am going to have chemotherapy as part of my treatment for bowel cancer. A friend has told me that there are now tablets that can be given instead of injections. Is this true?

last reviewed: 13.09.2005

7. I have had surgery for a bowel cancer. My surgeon says he has removed the growth but he has suggested that 'adjuvant' chemotherapy might be a wise precaution for me. I feel anxious about this. What would happen if I did not have this adjuvant chemotherapy?

last reviewed: 21.09.2005

8. I have recently had surgery for a large bowel cancer. A friend of mine has had surgery for a breast cancer. She was offered chemotherapy after her operation but I was not. Why is this? Am I getting worse treatment?

last reviewed: 19.09.2005

All Q&As are selected from some of the thousands asked by people contacting Cancerbackup every year. They are answered by specialists and reviewed and updated regularly.


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Q&As

Related information

Individual chemotherapy drugs

Chemotherapy regimen

Resources