http://medicineworld.org/cancer/colon/colon-cancer-blog.html Colon cancer blog from medicineworld.org adds a personal touch to the stories related to colon cancer. This colon cancer blog brings you stories of hope, stories of survivors and latest news and research related to colon cancer. Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:52:39 GMT en-us http://medicineworld.org/images/blogs/colon-cancer.jpg http://medicineworld.org/cancer/colon/colon-cancer-blog.html 128 90 http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/2-2010/screening-for-colorectal-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/2-2010/screening-for-colorectal-cancer.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:52:39 GMT Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Despite evidence and guidelines supporting the value of screening for this disease, rates of screening for colorectal cancer are consistently lower than those for other types of cancer, particularly breast and cervical. Although the screening rates in the target population of adults over age 50, have increased from 20-30 percent in 1997 to nearly 55 percent in 2008 the rates are still too low. An NIH state-of-the-science panel was convened this week to identify ways to further increase the use and quality of colorectal cancer screening in the United States........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2010/virtual-colonoscopy-is-effective.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2010/virtual-colonoscopy-is-effective.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:52:39 GMT Computed tomographic colonography (CTC), also known as virtual colonoscopy, remains effective in screening older patients for colorectal cancer (CRC), produces low referral for colonoscopy rates similar to other screening exams now covered by Medicare, and does not result in unreasonable levels of additional testing resulting from extracolonic findings, as per a research studyreported in the recent issue of Radiology........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/12-2009/ct-imaging-taken-post-avastin.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/12-2009/ct-imaging-taken-post-avastin.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:52:39 GMT Using routine computed tomography (CT) imaging to analyze form and structural changes to colorectal liver metastasis after bevacizumab and chemotherapy may predict overall survival, as per research from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The findings appear in the Dec. 2 issue of JAMA....... ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/8-2009/starving-the-colon-cancer-cells.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/8-2009/starving-the-colon-cancer-cells.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:52:39 GMT Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have discovered how two cancer-promoting genes enhance a tumor's capacity to grow and survive under conditions where normal cells die. The knowledge, they say, may offer new therapys that starve cancer cells of a key nutrient - sugar. However, the researchers caution that research does not suggest that altering dietary sugar will make any difference in the growth and development of cancer........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/8-2009/et-in-evaluating-colorectal-liver-metastases.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/8-2009/et-in-evaluating-colorectal-liver-metastases.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:52:39 GMT The Access to Medical Imaging Coalition (AMIC) announced recently that a study published in this month's Journal of Nuclear Medicine demonstrated the tremendous benefits of advanced imaging in the assessment of colorectal liver metastases. Dr. Theo Ruers lead a team of scientists in evaluating the benefits of F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) when combined with computed tomography (CT), and its ability to diagnose and stage hepatic growths far more effectively than standard CT alone. The study was presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine annual meeting in 2008 and received the Siemens Award for Excellence in Practice-Based Research........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/6-2009/surgery-for-late-stage-colon-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/6-2009/surgery-for-late-stage-colon-cancer.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:52:39 GMT A newly released study shows that a great majority of patients who present with advanced colorectal cancer that has spread to other organs (stage IV) don't require immediate surgery to remove the primary tumor in the colon. Scientists from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) presented their data today at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/6-2009/inadequate-bowel-prep-at-colonoscopy.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/6-2009/inadequate-bowel-prep-at-colonoscopy.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:52:39 GMT Obesity is an independent predictor of inadequate bowel preparation at colonoscopy, and the presence of additional risk factors further increases the likelihood of a poorly cleansed colon, as per a newly released study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/4-2009/how-high-fiber-diet-protects-you-from-colon-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/4-2009/how-high-fiber-diet-protects-you-from-colon-cancer.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:52:39 GMT Though a high-fiber diet has long been considered good for you and beneficial in staving off colon cancer, Medical College of Georgia scientists have discovered a reason why: roughage activates a receptor with cancer-killing potential. Scientists report in the recent issue of Cancer Research that the GPR109A receptor is activated by butyrate, a metabolite produced by fiber-eating bacteria in the colon. The receptor puts a double-whammy on cancer by sending signals that trigger cell death, or apoptosis, and shutting down a protein that causes inflammation, a precursor to cancer........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/2-2009/predicting-recurrence-in-colorectal-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/2-2009/predicting-recurrence-in-colorectal-cancer.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:52:39 GMT (PHILADELPHIA) Findings reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association by scientists at Thomas Jefferson University show that the presence of a biomarker in regional lymph nodes is an independent predictor of disease recurrence in patients with colorectal cancer. Detection of the biomarker, guanylyl cyclase 2C (GUCY2C), indicates the presence of occult metastases in lymph nodes that may not have been identified by current cancer staging methods, as per Scott Waldman, M.D., Ph.D., chairman of the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/2-2009/regular-exercise-to-prevent-colon-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/2-2009/regular-exercise-to-prevent-colon-cancer.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:52:39 GMT An ambitious newly released study has added considerable weight to the claim that exercise can lower the risk for colon cancer. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Harvard University combined and analyzed several decades worth of data from past studies on how exercise affects colon cancer risk. They observed that people who exercised the most were 24 percent less likely to develop the disease than those who exercised the least........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/2-2009/new-drug-to-prevent-colon-cancer-in-making.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/2-2009/new-drug-to-prevent-colon-cancer-in-making.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:52:39 GMT Scientists at the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida have observed that a drug now being tested to treat a range of human cancers significantly inhibited colon cancer development in mice. Because the agent appears to have minimal side effects, it may represent an effective chemopreventive therapy in people at high risk for colon cancer, the researchers say........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/2-2009/inflammation-colon-cancer-link.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/2-2009/inflammation-colon-cancer-link.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:52:39 GMT (New York, February 2, 2009) -- While chronic inflammation is widely thought to bea predisposing factor for colon cancer, the exact mechanisms linking these conditions have remained elusive. Researchers at the Melbourne Branch of the international Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) and the Technical University Munich have jointly discovered a new piece of this puzzle by demonstrating how the Stat3 protein links inflammation to tumor development, a discovery that may well lead to the identification of new therapeutic targets for colon cancer........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/fluorouracil-based-therapy-may-cure-colon-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/fluorouracil-based-therapy-may-cure-colon-cancer.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:52:39 GMT Adjuvant fluorouracil-based chemotherapy can lead to significant disease-free survival in colon cancer patients and may do even better in some, scientists report in an advance on-line issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. As lead investigator Dr. Daniel Sargent told Reuters Health, "The primary clinical implications of this research are that adjuvant fluorouracil-based therapy actually cures colon cancer patients -- as opposed to simply delaying a recurrence -- and that most relapses occur in the first 2 years after surgery"........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2009/hormone-therapy-and-colorectal-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2009/hormone-therapy-and-colorectal-cancer.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:52:39 GMT The combination of estrogen plus progestin, which women stopped taking in droves following the news that it may increase their risk of breast cancer, may decrease their risk of colorectal cancer, as per a report reported in the recent issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/12-2008/predicting-metastasis-from-colon-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/12-2008/predicting-metastasis-from-colon-cancer.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:52:39 GMT Cancer Scientists at the Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch and the Charit Universitts Medizin Berlin (Gera number of) have identified a gene which enables them to predict for the first time with high probability if colon cancer is going to metastasize. Assistant Professor Dr. Ulrike Stein, Professor Peter M. Schlag, and Professor Walter Birchmeier were able to demonstrate that the gene MACC1 (Metastasis-Associated in Colon Cancer 1) not only promotes tumor growth but also the development of metastasis.When MACC1 gene activity is low, the life expectancy of colon cancer patients is longer compared to patients with high MACC1 levels. (Nature Medicine, doi: 10.1038/nm.1889)*........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/12-2008/a-qualified-endoscopist-for-your-colonoscopy.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/12-2008/a-qualified-endoscopist-for-your-colonoscopy.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:52:39 GMT A study released recently in the Annals of Internal Medicine observed that colonoscopy is linked to lower death rates from colorectal cancer, however, the procedure missed lesions more often on the right side of the colon versus the left side. The study highlights the importance of seeking a qualified gastrointestinal endoscopist to perform a thorough colonoscopy and that patients must take the bowel prep as directed by their doctor allowing for a clear view of the colon to detect lesions. The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), representing the specialists in colorectal cancer screening, recommends that patients seek out an expertly-trained gastrointestinal endoscopist to perform a colonoscopy and to ask questions about their qualifications before the procedure........ ]]>