Independence Day

Celebrate today!

Wherever you are in this tough journey that is cancer, I hope you can take some time out to watch fireworks or listen to bands or eat a hot dog and just have fun.

July is a special month of celebration for me, and it is even more so this year.  Twenty-five years ago I was first diagnosed with colon cancer.  Those were the days of surgery and not much else.  5FU could add some time, but mostly we had to depend on the surgeon’s skill and hope the tumor hadn’t spread too far. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on July 4th, 2008
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: Kate's Thoughts

Happy 4th of July!

There’s nothing like the 4th of July to remind us of how great our country is. For me, what I love most about being an American is my right to speak out in support or opposition of what my elected officials are doing up in Congress and in the White House.

When I turned 18, I was so excited that I finally had the right to vote (you can imagine how much fun I was in high school). As a bona fide history geek, every time I vote, or place a call to Congress or write a letter to my electeds, I think about the patriots who embarked on a Great Experiment and sought to create a government of the people, by the people, for the people. How unsure they must have been that it would work, that a country without a strong central government would be able to thrive, that its citizens wouldn’t naturally gravitate back into living under tyranny. Ultimately, their faith in humankind won out over the fear and doubt. Man, that gets me.

Continue reading…

Posted by Carlea Bauman on July 3rd, 2008
Posted in: C3 News, Policy & Advocacy News | No Comments »

Senate Goes on Vacation…Seniors Suffer

Last week the U.S. Senate was unable to vote on HR 6331, The Medicare Improvements for Patients Providers Act. The Senate voted 58-40 to cut off debate and take up the bill, but they were two votes shy of what was needed.

What does this mean? If the Senate vote to cut off the debate ended up 60-40, the Senate would have been forced to vote on the bill. Instead, the Senate debated endlessly (filibuster) until they finally adjourned to go home for the entire next week. Because of this inaction, payments for physicians who treat Medicare recipients were cut by 10.6 percent on July 1st.

Continue reading…

Posted by Joe Arite on July 3rd, 2008
Posted in: Policy & Advocacy News | No Comments »
Tags: Congress, Medicare, Senate

Get Patient-friendly GI News

Digestive Health SmartBrief provides timely information about gastrointestinal problems, including colon and rectal cancer, for consumers.  Sponsored by the American College of Gastroenterology, it includes medically accurate tips for daily life for people with a wide range of GI issues.

You can sign up for a free weekly newsletter delivered to your email each Wednesday.  If you include the name of your gastroenterologist, contact information for that doctor will be included in your e-newsletter.  However, it is not necessary to do so.

You can read a sample issue here.

The HealthBrief does contain advertising.

The American College of Gastroenterology also provides patient information on its website, including where to find a gastroenterologist and a fact sheet on colon cancer.

Posted by Kate Murphy on July 3rd, 2008
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: colorectal cancer prevention

KRAS Mutation Status Predicts Response to Erbitux in Canadian Study

Another study has shown that colon or rectal cancer patients whose tumors have mutated KRAS don’t benefit from Erbitux® (cetuximab).  However, in the study when only patients with normal or wild-type KRAS were considered, survival time almost doubled after treatment with Erbitux began.

The National Cancer Institute of Canada sponsored a randomized trial (NCIC CTC C0.17) to compare Erbitux to the best supportive care for patients whose colorectal cancer had gotten worse on existing standard treatments that included 5FU, Eloxatin® (oxaliplatin) and Camptosar® (irinotecan).  Trial results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine last fall, showing a survival benefit for Erbitux treated patients.  Based on that study, the FDA approved a labeling change for Erbitux to reflect improved survival.

The new analysis, reported at the World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona showed that KRAS status predicted benefit from Erbitux. Median survival for patients with wild-type or normal KRAS was 9.5 months when they received Erbitux compared to 4.8 months for best supportive care alone. Patients with mutated KRAS had no similar benefit. For them median survival was 4.5 months whether or not they received Erbitux. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on July 1st, 2008
Posted in: Research & Treatment News, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags: Erbitux, KRAS, metastatic colorectal cancer, survival benefit