New treatment strategy cuts risk of bowel cancer returning by 28%

UK trial across three countries finds that giving patients chemotherapy before surgery was more effective

Giving bowel cancer patients chemotherapy before surgery cuts the risk of it coming back by 28%, according to the results of a trial experts are hailing as “fantastic”.

As many as one in three patients diagnosed with the disease see it return after surgery, a figure described as “far too high” by cancer specialists who have spent years searching for new treatment strategies. In the UK, someone dies from bowel cancer every 30 minutes.