Can I be cured of my Oesophageal or Stomach cancer?

The desired goal in treating patients with cancer is ‘cure’ of cancer. This approach is generally only feasible when the cancer has not spread to other organs or ‘invaded’ important structures next to it. The treatment approach most commonly consists of a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and sometimes radiotherapy. These are all done to ‘clear’ the tumour completely from being visible in the body or on x-ray scans. It is essentially never possible to provide a guarantee of cure, rather a calculation of risk of the cancer returning, which may range from being extremely unlikely to highly likely. Decisions about how to effectively treat the cancer involve a balanced decision of the chances of ‘cure’, risk of having surgery or chemotherapy or other risks to your health that may exist (eg. significant active heart disease or advanced age). These decisions are made by a number of cancer specialists that include your surgeon, gastroenterologist, oncologist, radiologist and pathologist at a multi-disciplinary meeting (MDT). The decisions and relevant issues should be conveyed to you by your specialist so you understand these important issues for you and you are involved with the decisions. After treatment you will continue to have follow-up to ensure there are no signs of the cancer coming back (“cancer recurrence").