A subset of patients who had their colon cancer removed will have a recurrence. If your colon cancer recurs after surgical resection, your doctor will likely recommend chemotherapy as the next step in treatment. If you have never had chemotherapy in the past, your medical oncologist will most likely recommend FOLFOX. There are other chemotherapy options that can be used depending on the tumor properties and where the recurrences are located.
Another option that you may hear about is FOLFIRI. This is a regimen that includes another chemotherapy agent, irinotecan. It is used less often than FOLFOX because it has more side effects without significantly improving survival. However, FOLFIRI or other chemotherapy drugs may be appropriate depending on the patient or specific characteristics of the tumor.
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