Breakthrough for bowel cancer patients as chemotherapy before surgery ‘slashes risk of disease returning’
BOWEL cancer patients given chemotherapy before surgery, instead of after, are less likely to see the disease return, a “remarkable” trial shows.
Having the treatment before going under the knife cut the risk of tumours coming back in two years by 28 per cent in a study — but the current standard is to give it afterwards.
Dr Laura Magill, of the University of Birmingham, said her research showed pre-surgery chemo “increases the chances that all cancer cells will be killed”.
The disease is Britain’s second most deadly cancer but can be cured if it’s caught early enough.
The screening age was lowered to people in their 50s in 2021 thanks to the The Sun’s No Time 2 Lose campaign, spearheaded by columnist Dame Deborah James.
There are around 42,900 new bowel cancer cases in the UK every year.
Dr Magill said: said: “Up to one in three colon cancer patients can see their cancer come back after surgery.
“That figure is far too high and we need new treatment strategies to stop colon cancer coming back.”
The latest study, funded by Cancer Research UK, suggests at least 5,000 patients in the UK every year could benefit from a tweak to how they receive chemotherapy.
The FOxTROT trial, led by the universities of Birmingham and Leeds, involved patients at 85 hospitals in the UK, Denmark and Sweden.
One group of patients received six weeks of chemotherapy, followed by surgery, then 18 weeks of chemotherapy.
A second group had standard care for colon cancer — also known as bowel cancer — which involved surgery followed by 24 weeks of chemotherapy.
The first group were significantly less likely to see their cancer return.
Geoff Hoggard, from Leeds, was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2016 and took part in the trial as part of the first group.
What are the symptoms of bowel cancer?
Bowel cancer symptoms can be subtle but 90 per cent of people with the disease will experience one of the following:
- a persistent change in bowel habit – pooing more often, with looser, runnier poos and sometimes tummy (abdominal) pain
- blood in the poo without other symptoms of piles (haemorrhoids) – this makes it unlikely the cause is haemorrhoids
- abdominal pain, discomfort or bloating always brought on by eating – sometimes resulting in a reduction in the amount of food eaten and weight loss
Source: NHS England
Six years on, he is still cancer-free and “back living life to the full”.
Genevieve Edwards, chief executive of Bowel Cancer UK, said: “It’s wonderful to see such positive results from this robust trial, which we have been following with great interest.
“It’s fantastic news that has the potential to make a real difference to the lives of the thousands of people diagnosed with earlier stage bowel cancer every year.
“This research suggests giving six weeks of chemotherapy to patients before surgery could offer a higher level of reassurance that their cancer won’t return for at least two years.
“We look forward to seeing longer follow up of the FOxTROT trial and further research that will help determine how treatment can be improved for patients in the future.
“Someone dies from bowel cancer every 30 minutes in the UK, so continuing to find new ways to treat the disease is crucial to save more lives.”
The research was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.