Hello Lollipop,

I am one of the enquiry nurses and our moderator Steph has asked us to take a look at your post.

I am sorry to learn about your father, it sounds like he has been through an awful lot and I expect you have as well.

I’m afraid I am quite sure where things are at the moment or if any conventional treatment is a possibility. I wonder if this is what you are asking? You mentioned that your father had a prostate biopsy and I am not sure if he had a biopsy to confirm the rectal cancer as well. Usually cancers are confirmed on biopsy before the doctors decide on what the treatment options might be.

Only your father’s medical team can tell you the full picture as far as they know it.  While your father is at home, his care is shared between the hospital and the GP; the GP depends on being kept up to date by the hospital specialist. If your father has a specialist nurse at the hospital called a CNS (clinical nurse specialist) they should be able to help to answer any questions he has about his situation.

It would be sensible for your father to let his doctors know that he is taking alternative treatments. Alternative treatments include things like hemp oil, mangasteen, turmeric and mistletoe. Alternative treatments don’t have a lot of scientific evidence behind them. This means it isn’t known if or how well they really work or what sort of side effects they may have taken together or with conventional treatment. So it is wise to be cautious about taking them and a good idea to talk it over with the doctors.

If you have a specific question please do get back to us.  If you would like a chat you can call us on 0808 800 4040 (we are here from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm). 

Best wishes,

Julia 

Hi Julia thank u for the reply .. yes I am more asking if this can be cured and if so how? I know chemo helps blast the cells although it also kills the healthy cells .. hence the alternative treatment..I have had bloods taken to check if I would be acceptable for a transplant (stem cell,bone marrow,liver etc) although I have been told from my doctor he doubts they would do it..I don't understand why not tho? If it is speckles on his liver could they not cut it out or transplant? His lymph gland? Was removed and as far as we know it has stopped spreading, the tumor in his rectum is small so how could this not be removed? I just feel like there are so many things that can be getting done although they are only acting on chemo .. They said over the 6 months with alternating treatments between 2 they hope to clear 70% of ... what about the last 30%? I have so many questions my head is spinning ...could the cutting of an artery cause the spread of the cancer? 2 months ago he was all clear...The hospital are now saying that he had a diverticulis blow out which caused the tare in his bowel although everything I have read states it is more likely to be due to instruments used during the op? ... I feel like I'm an online biologist now but still very naive about it all ... I don't even know what stage he is .. I know it is metastatic rectal cancer and from what I have read that is stage 1V?  any help or info or advice again would be greatly apreciated.

Thank you

Kim

Hello,

Thanks for getting back to us.

It is really only the medical team caring for your father who can fully answer questions about his individual situation. This is because they are the experts and they also know his full details. But the following general information may be of some use.

As you know when rectal cancer spreads to another organ in the body this is advanced stage 4 cancer. It can be hard to cure. Sometimes if the cancer has only spread to the liver and doctors can operate to remove all of the cancer, then long term survival and maybe a cure is possible. But when a rectal cancer has spread to several areas of the body then a cure is not usually achievable. This is because doctors are not often able to remove all of the cancer. Even if they could, there are likely to be small amounts of microscopic cancer deposits in other parts of the body. These are too small to be seen. They can start to grow and the cancer can come back.

In very general terms doctors are unlikely to operate to remove a cancer which has spread to the liver if there is active cancer elsewhere in the body. It won’t help as the other cancer is still growing. It is also difficult and major surgery. Removing cancer from the liver is only possible if a good proportion of healthy well-functioning liver can be left behind.

Again there is no point in having a new transplanted liver if there is active cancer elsewhere in the body, as this would still be growing. Also after a liver transplant it is necessary to take drugs to stop the person’s body from rejecting the new liver. This can damp down the immune system and make it easier for any remaining cancer cells to grow.

Stem cell transplants can be used to try to cure some types of cancer. This is because it allows doctors to give very high doses of chemotherapy. This type of treatment is more likely to be used with blood cancers as there is evidence to suggest that it works. There has been some research which has looked at this treatment in people with solid tumours. Examples of solid tumors are breast, bowel and lung cancers. But unfortunately stem cell transplants do not seem to work so well in solid tumours. This treatment also can carry a relatively high risk of complications and so it is too risky when the treatment is far less likely to help.

The usual treatment for stage 4 rectal cancer is chemotherapy. So it does sound like your dad’s doctors are offering him appropriate care. 

All the best,

Jean.

Hi Jean, 

Thank you for the reply.  This is all helpful information as I can't speak to my father's surgeons.  One more question again (sorry) could the cutting of an artry cause the spread of cancer? 

Thank you

Kim

Hi and thanks although that's not what I'm asking ... I'm asking if when the surgeon cut my dad's artery could that have caused the spread of the cancer cells? 

Thanks 

Hello Lollipop713,

I just wanted to let you know that I have fixed Nurse Celene's link which for some reason wasn't working and which tells you all about how cancer can spread.

I hope this helps and if you want to talk about your particular situation in more detail, don't hesitate to give our nurses a call as Celene suggested on this free number 0808 800 4040. You can ring them Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. 

Best wishes,

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator