Repeat Surgery for CRC Lung Mets Successful

Patients who have had one operation to remove lung tumors that have spread from cancer in their colon or rectum can have good outcomes with a second and even third lung surgery. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on October 30th, 2009
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: lung metastases, surgery

Endoscopists Can Manage Propofol Safely and at Less Cost

Despite considerable controversy over the use of Diprivan® (propofol) for endoscopies without an anesthesiologist present, there were few serious problems in almost 650,000 procedures where trained registered nurses administered the sedation under the direction of the doctor performing the exam.

Only 11 patients needed a tube inserted in their throats to help them breathe, and there were 4 deaths, all of them during upper endoscopies in seriously ill patients.  There were no permanent neurological injuries.

Costs for using an anesthesiologist or nurse-anesthetist for all of the studied procedures would have reached nearly $185 million. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on October 29th, 2009
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: Diprivan, endoscopist-directed propofol, propofol

Liver-Limited Colon Cancer

One of the questions I often get is if colon cancer has traveled to the liver is it then liver cancer or is it still colon cancer.

The answer is very easy. It is still colon cancer but the consequences of it being in the liver or any other organ are getting more and more important. Continue reading…

Posted by Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD on October 29th, 2009
Posted in: From the Desk of Dr. Lenz | 3 Comments »
Tags: liver metastases, Treating Colorectal Cancer

CancerCare Workshop on KRAS on November 5

Join a CancerCare Telephone Education Workshop on November 5th to learn more about KRAS and colon cancer.

• Medical Update on Colon Cancer: Understanding K-RAS
• November 5, 2009
• 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm
• Registration required

Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on October 27th, 2009
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: KRAS

More and More Complex Decisions but Better and Better Outcomes

Colon cancer has undergone significant changes and has seen increasing treatment options. With more and more drugs available and approved for colon cancer we are facing difficult decisions deciding what is the right treatment at the right time.

For patients with newly diagnosed colon cancer we have two chemotherapeutic regimens: a combination of infusional 5-FU with irinotecan (FOLFIRI) or with oxaliplatin (FOLFOX). Both regimens have shown similar efficacy and similar extent of toxicity however there are differences in the quality of toxicity.  More often FOLFOX has to be stopped because of its neurotoxicity than because it stopped working. Continue reading…

Posted by Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD on October 27th, 2009
Posted in: From the Desk of Dr. Lenz | 7 Comments »
Tags: biomarkers, Treating Colorectal Cancer