Patients who have poorly controlled type-2 diabetes and colorectal cancer have worse outcomes than patients whose diabetes is controlled or patients without diabetes.

Poorly controlled type 2 diabetes led to more right-sided tumors, more advanced cancer at diagnosis, diagnosis at a younger age, and poorer five year survival.

Researchers at the Dallas Veterans Medical Center reviewed records of patients with colorectal cancer whose also had type 2 diabetes and matched them to a control group of colorectal cancer patients without diabetes.  Poorly controlled type 2 diabetes was defined as a HbA1c level of 7.5 percent or more. Read the rest of this entry »

The Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI), a growing, broad-based coalition of organizations dedicated to modernizing the way clinical trials are conducted in the United States, has named a 12-member Executive Board that will oversee its activities.

Founded by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Duke University as a public-private partnership, CTTI seeks to improve the quality and efficiency of clinical trials. CTTI was formed in the wake of growing frustration among patients, consumers, the academic community and industry over the difficulty of conducting high-quality clinical trials in a timely manner that could produce information physicians need to define optimal treatments for their patients.

This board comprises leading figures in government, academia, industry (pharmaceutical, biotechnology, device and contract research) and patient advocacy.

C3 Board Chair Nancy Roach has been named a member of the CTTI Executive Board as the only representative of the patient advocacy community.

Katie Couric discusses inherited colorectal cancer with a woman with Lynch syndrome colon cancer and her brother during a CBS News broadcast.

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The next chapter of the Democratic primary played out last night in North Carolina and Indiana. Senator Barack Obama defeated Senator Hilary Clinton in North Carolina while the former First Lady beat Obama by a small margin in the Hoosier State.

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Very few cancer survivors are meeting all three of the American Cancer Society recommendations for a healthy lifestyle.  But those who do report a higher overall quality of life after their cancer treatment.

The ACS recommends that cancer survivors

1. Get 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 60 minutes of strenuous exercise during each week.
2. Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day (5-A-Day),
3. Not smoke.

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