CancerCompass message board discussion started by Nwmom on 11/17/2006 http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,7853,0.htm Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ My husband(age 36) has stage IV rectal cancer with liver mets. Officially, T2N2M1. He was misdianosed for at least 2 years, but that is another story. He has a colon resection on Oct. 21st, where they removed 8 inches of his colon and a golf ball section of his liver. They took out 45 nodes, 12 of which were cancerous. They have recommended FOLFOX, which we have no problem with as most of the lit says this is standard. (Though I am obviously concerned about how he will do on it, side effects etc.) But his oncologist recommended radiation as well, 5 weeks with a continuous daily drip of 5FU at the same time. Our problem is this. His surgeon told us radiation was a bad idea, too many possibilities of side effects, permanent damage. We have concerns about side effects as well, seeing as my husband is so young. The surgeon is concerned about his quality of life. So now we have 2 camps, the surgeon saying don't do radiation and the oncologist and radiation oncologist saying do it. We are going to see another oncologist to get a second opinion. Does anyone out there have any thoughts on radiation? Should we be concerned about permanent damage? Or are we making too big a deal out of this? We want him around as long as possible for our 10 and 8 year old daughters. Thanks in advance for your posts Nwmom Fri, 17 Nov 2006 00:00:00 GMT It a good question. As you observed, you will hear pro's and con's. Published randomized trials suggest that preoperative or postoperative radiation therapy appears to have significant impact on local recurrence but does not increase survival rates. Ask your ONC to explain why he is in favor of it. You need to weigh potential benefits against potential harm. Oncrx Sat, 18 Nov 2006 00:00:00 GMT