Life Expectancy With Recurrent Bowel Cancer

Life Expectancy With Recurrent Bowel Cancer

Before looking at life expectancy with recurrent bowel cancer, let us first understand what is recurrent bowel cancer. Basically, this type of cancer is one that comes back even after it has been treated. This kind of cancer can return in the bowel or it may be seen in other organs, like the lungs or liver. Sometimes, it can be present in both the lung as well as liver. In such as case, the cancer has not been eliminated and hence, it affects the life expectancy of the person.

Usually the life expectancy with recurrent bowel cancer is very low. The chances of surviving this kind of cancer are less than ten percent. In fact, just a minute percentage of people with recurrent bowel cancer actually end up surviving for over five years. Though there is no cure for this kind of cancer, treatment measures like chemotherapy, operation and radiation can help to increase a person's life expectancy.

The treatment for recurrent bowel cancer actually depends on the location of the malignancy. The treatment measures adopted can help increase a person's life expectancy. However, this is not the case always. Some people though tend to survive beyond the 5 years and use diet as a way to help them out. Such people avoid eating fat and red meat. Instead they opt for foods like vegetables, whole grains and fruits that contain compounds that are anti-carcinogenic in nature.

It has been seen that if the recurrent bowel cancer spreads to the liver or the lungs, the person's life expectancy can be increased by removing the tumors through surgical procedures. In a study done by Mayo Clinic, it was found that 55 percent of patients tended to be free of the recurrent cancer five years after the surgery. However, it was also noted that only patients who did not have the involvement of thoracic lymph node or high levels of carcino-embryonic antigen tended to benefit from this surgical excision.

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Life Expectancy With Recurrent Bowel Cancer