ASCO in Action has updated information on the best way to obtain imported leucovorin in solution.

Teva Pharmaceuticals customer service provided them with detailed instructions to help hospitals, pharmacies, and oncology practices obtain imported calcium folinate solution.

Teva has FDA approval to import calcium folinate solution which is the same strength as the powdered leucovorin approved for sale in the United States once water is added.

Please be clear that individual patients cannot obtain the drug themselves.  It must be requested by pharmacists or physicians, and the requests must be approved by Teva. Read the rest of this entry »

Being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes makes it more likely that men and women with colorectal cancer will die from colon or rectal cancer, from cardiovascular disease, or from any cause.

Diabetes increased risk of dying from colorectal cancer about 30 percent and more than doubled chances of dying from heart disease or stroke.  Overall deaths among early stage colon and rectal cancer patients was increased about 50 percent when they had diabetes before their colorectal cancer diagnosis.

For patients initially diagnosed with stage I, II, or III cancer, the chance of not dying from colorectal cancer within 5 years was 82 percent with Type 2 diabetes and 87 percent without it.

Five years after a colorectal cancer diagnosis about 3 out of 10 patients with diabetes died from any disease, compared to 2 out of 10 without diabetes.

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In a nutshell:

A brief look this week at

• Blood sugar and colorectal cancer risk
• Outcomes for people with defective mismatch repair on oxaliplatin
• Medicare’s preventive services

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Obese people on Medicare  now have the opportunity to have regular weight loss counseling paid for when offered by a primary care provider.  Since this is considered prevention, there is no co-pay.

On November 29, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that there was enough evidence that intensive behavioral counseling was reasonable and necessary to prevent disease or disability and that Medicare beneficiaries were entitled to coverage as a preventive service.

This is particularly good news for people trying to prevent colon or rectal cancer since studies have consistently found a link between body mass index (fatness) and colorectal cancer, including the World  Cancer Research Foundation which included BMI and colorectal cancer in their 2007 comprehensive analysis reported in  Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer. Read the rest of this entry »

When patients in the Netherlands were offered a virtual colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening, 1 out of 3 agreed, compared to 1 out of 5 offered a traditional optical colonoscopy exam.

However, it’s important to note that the virtual colonoscopies were done without laxative preparation.

In addition, optical colonoscopies found more advanced lesions (large polyps and cancers) than CT colonography.

However, as an overall strategy, the yield of advanced lesions per 100 people invited to participate in screening was the same because more people agreed to have a CT colonography. Read the rest of this entry »