Computer software designed to sharpen blurry images makes lower radiation doses possible for abdominal CT scanning, including CT colonography.so-called virtual colonoscopy.

The new technology may lessen fears of excessive radiation exposure during CT colonography screening and make it safer and more acceptable to patients.

In a study of CT colonography, using the software let radiologists cut the amount of radiation in half and still get images that were as good as those seen at full strength. Read the rest of this entry »

It doesn’t hurt to stop XELOX chemotherapy combined with Avastin after six treatments and continue with Avastin alone until colorectal cancer gets worse, according to a study reported at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.

Many patients have to stop oxaliplatin chemotherapy with before getting its maximum effectiveness because of peripheral neuropathy — tingling, numbness, or pain in their hands and feet.  Xeloda® (capecitabine) can cause painful skin redness and cracking on the hands and feet or hand-foot syndrome, which can also affect time on chemotherapy.

Giving only six treatments of Avastin® (bevacizumab) plus XELOX chemotherapy and then stopping XELOX and using only Avastin until cancer progressed was as effective for the initial or first-line treatment of colorectal cancer as continuing XELOX.  XELOX combines Xeloda® (capecitabine) with oxaliplatin.

In addition, the strategy reduced both severe peripheral neuropathy and hand-foot syndrome.

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In disappointing news, adding the Hedgehog inhibitor GDC-0449 to standard chemotherapy failed to increase the time before advanced colorectal cancer got worse.

Researchers compared progression-free survival between patients who got either FOLFOX or FOLFIRI chemotherapy with Avastin and a group who got the same chemo regimen with GDC-0449. There was no difference Read the rest of this entry »

Does adding Erbitux to chemotherapy help people whose colorectal cancer has spread beyond the colon or rectum to distant body sites?

The answer is yes, according to a pooled analysis of two large randomized clinical trials comparing chemotherapy alone to chemotherapy plus Erbitux® (cetuximab).  However, benefits depend on whether or not patient tumors have mutations of two genes, KRAS and BRAF.

Previous studies have shown that only patients with normal or wild type KRAS get any benefit from EGFR inhibitors Erbitux or Vectibix™ (panitumumab) so a combined analysis of the CRYSTAL and OPUS studies looked only a outcomes in KRAS wild type tumors.  In addition, the research team studied the effect of mutations to BRAF.

They found that adding Erbitux to initial chemotherapy improved overall survival time, time until cancers got worse (progression-free survival), the percent of tumors that shrank with treatment (overall response rate) for tumors with wild-type KRAS.  The best outcomes were in patients who had both wild-type KRAS and wild-type BRAF. Read the rest of this entry »

Are you a colorectal cancer survivor living in Western North Carolina?

Or are you someone who treats colon and rectal cancer patients in that region?

Both survivors and health care professionals are invited to come together at a one day networking forum at the Wind River Cancer Wellness Center on June 30th to identify the critical issues important to people living in Western North Carolina and share local resources for survivors. The event, including lunch, is free, but registration is required. Read the rest of this entry »