Bowel cancer treatment depends on the stage (whether superficial or invasive) and type of the disease, the grade of the tumour (how aggressive the cells look under the microscope) as well as the patient's age and overall health. It may be classed as radical - aiming to cure or palliative - aiming to control symptoms. 

Bowel cancer treatment options include:

• Surgery - the most common bowel cancer treatment option for all stages. A doctor may remove the malignancy using the following types of surgery - local excision, colectomy, colostomy, radiofrequency ablation, cryosurgery.
  
• Chemotherapy - a therapy using anticancer drugs that aim to stop the growth of malignant cells either by destroying them or by stopping them from further dividing. Chemotherapy may be given in a vein by injection or drip, or may be taken by mouth as a tablet. Chemotherapy is often applied after bowel cancer surgery (adjuvant), before surgery (neo-adjuvant), or as the primary therapy if surgery is not recommended (palliative).
  
• Radiation therapy - involves a localised treatment (abdomen area) which is used either to shrink the tumour or follows after the surgery to make sure any malignant cells that may be left in the area are destroyed.
  
• Biologic therapies - a treatment that uses body's own immune system to fight the disease

Further general information Your doctors and specialist nurses are in an ideal position to give you relevant information on your disease and treatment as they know your individual circumstances. Cancerbackup has a help line (0808 800 1234) and a prize winning video available in English, Italian, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati & Hindi explaining Radiotherapy & Chemotherapy. Cancernet.co.uk has over 500 pages describing cancer, its management, practical tips and tool which patients, their carers and their doctors have found helpful during the cancer journey.