Bowel cancer is a catchall term for cancers that occur in a person’s large bowel and, depending on where it originates, is also called colon cancer or rectal cancer. Treatment for this condition will depend on which part of the bowel has been affected and how far the cancer spreads before treatment is undertaken.
Surgery is generally the most often used bowel cancer treatment and is usually combined with radiotherapy or chemotherapy to stop the cancer’s recurrence or spread; certain biological treatments can also be used. The effectiveness of any treatment for this type of cancer depends on how early it is detected – if detected in its initial stages it can be cured and does not return. When the cancer is at an advanced stage neither surgery nor other treatments are wholly effective in curing it although its symptoms and the possibility of its spread to other parts of the body can be mitigated.
