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Is Bowel Cancer Fatal or Can it Be Managed?

Bowel cancer--also known as colon cancer or colorectal cancer--is a disease characterized by malignant cell growth in the colon or rectum. Outcomes in bowel cancer cases vary according to a number of different factors.

  1. Recovery Factors

    • Recovery from bowel cancer depends on considerations that include an individual’s general health, the extent of cancerous tissue, whether the cancer has formed a hole in or blocked the colon and whether the cancer is recurring, according to the National Cancer Institute.

    Early Treatment

    • The Merck Manuals Online Medical Library (MMOML) notes that positive outcomes depend largely on early diagnosis and surgical removal of affected tissue. In individuals with cancer limited to the inner lining of the bowel wall, surgery provides a cure rate of roughly 90 percent.

    Bowel Wall Spread

    • When cancer has spread through the bowel wall, surgery provides a cure in roughly 70 percent of individuals, reports the MMOML.

    Lymph Node Involvement

    • After cancer spreads (metastasizes) to nearby lymph nodes in the abdomen, surgery provides a cure in roughly 30 to 50 percent of individuals, notes the MMOML.

    Advanced Cancer

    • When bowel cancer reaches other organs, distant lymph nodes or the abdominal wall, surgery may be combined with chemotherapy, according to the MMOML. The average survival time drops to seven months.

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