Aintree Broadgreen Royal Liverpool

Colorectal cancer is cancer of the bowel. The bowel is part of the digestive system and is divided into two parts, the small bowel and the large bowel. In colorectal cancer we are concerned about the large bowel, and this is divided into three parts: the colon, the rectum and the anus.

Contact us

Aintree University Hospital

Tel: 0151 525 5980

Broadgreen Hospital and Royal Liverpool University Hospital

Tel: 0151 706 2000

More information

We want to make your first visit to see us as easy as possible for you. You will receive a contact number for your CNS team at the time of your endoscopy procedure or we will call you and give it to you within 24 hours after your test. This number is for you to contact the CNS team at any point whilst you are awaiting any further scans or investigations and throughout you cancer journey.

Once we have all your results they will be discussed in the Colorectal MDT and an appointment will be made for you. Depending on which consultant you are seeing you may receive an appointment to come to clinic on either the Royal on Aintree site.

Royal site appointments are in Outpatients Clinic 1 or on Aintree site in the Elective Care Building. 

You will receive a letter or phone call as well as a text inviting you into this appointment.

If you need to re-arrange your appointment time, please contact the number on your letter and this can be arranged for you.

At your first appointment to get all your results, we advise you bring a member of your family or a friend along for support. You will meet your Consultant, your named cancer nurse and the cancer support worker. They will support and guide you through the appointment and organise the next steps after your appointment.

The professionals who make up your multidisciplinary team will depend on your type of cancer.

For example, not all cancers can be treated with surgery.

The multidisciplinary team may include:

  • A surgeon: your surgeon will have a special interest in your type of cancer
  •  A medical oncologist: a specialist doctor who treats cancer with drugs, including chemotherapy
  • A clinical oncologist or radiotherapist: a doctor who treats cancer with radiotherapy and may also prescribe chemotherapy
  • A pathologist: a specialist doctor who examines body tissues and organs under the microscope
  • A radiologist: a specialist in the use of x-rays and other imaging to diagnose and treat disease, with a special interest in your type of cancer
  • A specialist nurse: a nurse who provides information and support
  • MDT co-ordinator.

The multidisciplinary team meets every Tuesday morning to discuss the best treatment options for each patient in their care, taking into account the results of tests and your general health.

Your doctor will then discuss the different treatment options available to you, considering your own preferences.

You may find it helpful to take a family member or friend with you when your treatment is being discussed.

Treatment options vary depending on the area of the bowel that the cancer has been found but generally. If there is no treatment, we can offer stenting of the bowel or formation of a stoma for pain and symptom control.

Colon

Cancer treatment options can involve surgical resection and/or chemotherapy.

Rectal

Cancer treatment options involve radiotherapy and chemotherapy, surgery and potentially more chemotherapy.

Anal

Cancer treatment is treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy initially. Sometimes surgery is needed afterwards but oncology treatment is the main treatment.

Follow up is dependent on the treatment option that has been discussed with you.

If surgery is your first treatment, then a pre-op appointment will be made. You will be referred to the prehabilitation team who will aim to help support you with fitness and lifestyle to optimise your health before surgery. They are a fantastic team who will get you ready for major surgery. You may need involvement form the anaesthetic consultant and the POPs team (Perioperative care for older people).

Once a date has been arranged for your surgery you will hear from the secretary and the patient booking team about where to go on the day you come to hospital.

If you require radiotherapy or chemotherapy, then you will be referred to the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre to meet one of our oncology colleagues to discuss your treatment regime. 

You will be guided along the colorectal pathway by your named cancer nurse specialist (CNS) and the cancer support workers.

After surgery your sample will be looked at by the histopathologist and it will then be decided if further treatment is needed. This usually takes from 11 to 20 days for sample to be reviewed. If you require chemotherapy after surgery, you will be referred to the oncology team. We will let you know these results and let you know of any further treatment.

Once all treatment is complete you will be seen by your consultant post-surgery and then you will be put onto surveillance for five years. You will be informed what your surveillance entails by your CNS.