Your AI-Trained Oncology Knowledge Connection!
BETHESDA, Md-G.D. Searle & Co. has won FDA approval for its COX-2 inhibitor Celebrex (celecoxib) as an oral adjunct to usual care (endoscopic surveillance and surgery) to reduce the number of adenomatous colorectal polyps in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). The FDA initially approved Celebrex for treating osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis in April 1998.
Laparoscopic operating techniques are gaining wider acceptance among colorectal surgeons, as their efficacy is proven. These techniques offer patients the advantages of fewer complications, decreased need for postoperative narcotics, faster
Chemoradiation is effective in controlling anal and rectal cancers but causes significant side effects and complications, according to three independent teams of colorectal surgeons in Australia and the United States.
A treatment for patients with advanced colorectal cancer that has spread to the liver has been found to increase life expectancy, said Dr. Nancy Kemeny, an oncologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. This treatment combines
Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. During 1999, approximately
Nearly one-fifth of patients who develop colorectal cancer at a young age (40 and younger) have a family history consistent
Researchers have identified a mechanism that may explain where colorectal tumors arise and at what age the tumors develop in people with hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC). The results of the study, conducted at Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, help clarify why some people with the same HNPCC-related genetic mutation develop colorectal tumors at 30 years of age while others develop tumors at age 60. They also help explain why tumors in some patients develop in the distal area of the large intestine rather than in regions closer to the large intestine’s junction with the small intestine, which is more typical.
Aphase III clinical trial conducted by researchers at Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown, Pennsylvania, found that the OncoVAX colon cancer vaccine reduced the 5-year recurrence rate of patients with stage II colon cancer patients by 61% and improved their cancer-free survival rate by 50%. The study, published in a recent issue of the Lancet, compared patients who underwent surgery alone to patients who had surgery plus the vaccine.
Surgery is the only curative option for patients with colorectal cancer. The goal of other modalities, such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiotherapy, is to prolong survival and reduce the risk of recurrence.
PHOENIX-Conservative, sphincter-sparing surgery followed by chemotherapy plus radiotherapy appears effective in selected patients with early-stage rectal cancer, Anthony Russell, MD, said at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology meeting.
Hormone replacement therapy may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer in women, according to new results of a meta-analysis presented at the North American Menopause Society meeting.
Scientists at Jefferson Medical College believe they’ve uncovered a molecular mechanism by which aspirin interferes with colorectal cancer development in individuals who carry particular gene mutations that make them very likely to get the
Colorectal cancer is a major cause of death in the United States, where it accounts for approximately 57,000 deaths per year. Thus, the prevention of this disease would have a significant impact on public health. Chemoprevention is defined as the use of natural or pharmacologic agents to disrupt the process of carcinogenesis. Substances explored as chemopreventive agents in colorectal cancer include: (1) the nonsteroidal anti-inflamma-tory drugs (NSAIDS), which may inhibit the evolution and formation of adenomas by their inhibition of cyclooxygenase and decrease of prostaglandin synthesis; (2) antioxidants, such as vitamin E or C, which may modulate carcinogenic substances; and (3) folate and calcium, which may interfere with tumor cell growth and replication. Dietary intervention can be accomplished by decreasing fat intake and increasing fiber consumption, both of which have been linked to a lower incidence of colon cancer in multiple epidemiologic studies. This field is continuing to evolve. Hopefully, ongoing research efforts will offer a better understanding of the role of these and other substances in chemoprevention. This article summarizes the available data regarding dietary and pharmacologic approaches to colorectal cancer chemoprevention. [ONCOLOGY 1(13):89-98, 1999]
Data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting by Professor Eric Van Cutsem, MD, PhD, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium, demonstrate, for the first time, that people with metastatic colorectal cancer who
Metastatic colorectal cancer to the liver develops in over 50,000 US patients each year and is rapidly fatal if untreated. Even the most active chemotherapeutic agents rarely prolong survival for more than 3 years. Liver
In patients with Dukes’ C colorectal cancer, therapy with a novel murine monoclonal antibody, Mab 17-1A (edrecolomab [Panorex]), manufactured by Centocor, reduced death by 32% and recurrence of disease by more than 23%, according to a
TORONTO--Visualization of gastrointestinal carcinomas is enhanced with the use of a radiolabeled peptide developed at the University of Vienna, according to a study presented at the 45th Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM).
During the past decade, advances have been made in the adjuvant treatment of resectable rectal cancer. Postoperative combined-modality therapy significantly improves local control and survival. Recent Intergroup
The best deterrent against colorectal cancer may be to photograph the cecum--where a significance incidence of colorectal cancer occurs--as a complement to performing colonoscopy, according to a study conducted in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The
Recent advances in research focused on identifying genetic and other markers that can predict cancer risk were reported at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Included in the presentations were reports of
Adenocarcinoma of the rectum remains a significant public health challenge, with 39,000 new cases and 8,500 deaths predicted for 1998. Radical surgery, the current standard therapy, frequently necessitates the formation of
COLUMBUS, Ohio--Rectal cancer is treated with a wide variety of operations and adjuvant therapy. This variety makes extensive preoperative evaluation mandatory, said Karamjit Khanduja, MD, chief of the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Mt. Carmel Health, Columbus, Oho.
COLUMBUS, Ohio--Although virtual colonoscopy is a new and still evolving technology, it could one day prove to be more convenient and less expensive than traditional methods of colon cancer screening, said David J. Vining, MD, assistant professor of diagnostic radiology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Scientists at the American Health Foundation’s Nutritional Carcinogenesis Division, under the direction of Dr. Bandaru S. Reddy, division chief and associate director of the Foundation’s Naylor Dana Institute, Valhalla, New York, and Dr. Karen Seibert of Searle Research & Development, St. Louis, Missouri, described an exceptionally strong inhibitor of colon cancer development in an animal model assay in the February 1, 1998, issue of Cancer Research.
Sphincter-preserving treatment with combined radiation and chemotherapy has replaced abdominoperineal resection as the standard of care for patients with carcinoma of the anal canal. Randomized studies have shown
