As you have had Dukes A stage bowel cancer, you won't need to have chemotherapy.

The Dukes staging system for bowel cancer tells the doctors about the size of the cancer and whether it has spread. Dukes A is the earliest stage of bowel cancer. It means that the cancer is contained within the bowel and has not spread elsewhere.

This is good news, as an operation to take away the cancer is usually very successful. The risk of the cancer coming back after surgery is very small.

Chemotherapy is given after surgery for bowel cancer to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back. When the risk of cancer coming back is already low the risks and side effects of chemotherapy are higher than any small benefit it could give. Because of this the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for the management of colon cancer don't recommend chemotherapy for people with Dukes A stage cancer of the bowel.