[Xilinx](http://www.xilinx.com/), a maker of programmable chips, has joined other Santa Clara County companies in creating a *Colon Cancer Free Zone*. The company is providing seminar and internal website information to help their workers learn about the risks, tests, and treatments for colorectal cancer.

In addition, the company insurance coverage has been expanded to cover the full range of screening tests for colorectal cancer, including the more expensive colonoscopy.

According to an article in the October 21, 2005 issue of the [San Jose Mercury-News](http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/12959457.htm) Xilinx Vice-President Steve Haynes and other company executives had themselves screened for colorectal cancer and made the results public. `We declared ourselves *colon cancer free* to lead the way,” Haynes told the *Mercury News.*

Earlier this year Xilinx joined several other [Silicon Valley companies](http://www.embeddedstar.com/press/content/2005/8/embedded18726.html) to support the American Cancer Society effort to promote colorectal cancer awareness in [Santa Clara County](http://www.lizkniss.org/proclamations/2004/ColonCancer.html),

In 2003 oncologist Dr. Richard Androuny, author of [Understanding Colorectal Cancer,](http://www.upress.state.ms.us/catalog/spring2002/understanding_colon_cancer.html) urged the California city of Monte Serano in Santa Clara County to become a colon cancer free zone and raise awareness of colorectal cancer and its prevention.

CNN and the Associated Press have picked up a story about next year’s [Colondar](http://www.colonclub.org/colondar.html). They are featuring Chicago-area firefighter Steve DeLuca and his colon surgery scar.

DeLuca is the May pin-up for the [Colon Club's](http://www.colonclub.org/index.html) 2006 Colondar, featuring young colorectal cancer patients baring their scars for the camera. [Molly McMaster](http://www.colonclub.org/aboutus.html), who survived a colon cancer diagnosed when she was 23, and Hannah Vogler, whose cousin Amanda Roberts died of colorectal cancer when she was only 27, developed the Colondar to remind the public that, although colorectal cancer is most often found in people over 50, young people do get colorectal cancer and need to be aware of its symptoms.

The most exciting news about the news is the awareness the Colondar project brings to colorectal cancer. Trying to write this message, I got the following error: “403.9 Access Forbidden: Too many users are connected” That’s right, too many people were trying to access the [Colon Club website](http://www.colonclub.org/index.html) — perhaps for a peep at DeLuca, perhaps for more information about colorectal cancer and CRC screening.

Thirty patients were treated at three Australian cancer centers with selective internal radiation (SIR) spheres for liver metastases from colorectal cancer. All patients had previously had their cancer progress on 5FU (fluorouracil) treatment. At the time, neither oxaliplatin nor irinotecan was available as reimbursible treatment in Australia, but 73% of patients had previously received either oxaliplatin or irinotecan treatments and gotten worse.

Twenty-nine (29) patients were evaluated for safety and effectiveness of the SIR-spheres treatment. There were 10 partial responses (33%) that were greater than 30% decrease in tumor size. The median duration of response to treatment was 8.3 months, with a median time to progression of cancer of 5.3 months. However, among patients who had a partial response to therapy, time to progression was 9.2 months.

Some responses continued to progress over time, with one patient having a complete response (disappearance of all target lesions) at 6 months.

Fourteen (14) patients had already received all available chemotherapy treatments, but there was a lower rate of response among this group (21%) and a shorter time to disease progression (3.9 months.) No patients with a poor performance status score or who had cancer outside the liver showed a response to treatment.

Toxicity was acceptable, although there were 4 cases of late gastric ulceration. Most side effects were mild and included nausea, loss of appetite, lethargy, or abdominal pain.

The research team, headed by Lionel C. Lim, concluded,

In patients with metastatic colorectal cancer that have previously received treatment with 5-FU based chemotherapy, treatment with SIR-spheres has demonstrated encouraging activity. Further studies are required to better define the subsets of patients most likely to respond

Their results were published in [*BMC Cancer*, Volume 5](http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2407/5/132/abstract)

In an effort to understand conflicting information about whether breast cancer makes colorectal cancer more likely, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania reviewed information from a large group of women with breast cancer and compared their rates of colorectal cancer to women without a history of breast cancer.

Using a research database from the United Kingdom that included 17,415 women with a history of breast cancer and 69,660 women without breast cancer, the research team calculated the risk for a subsequent colorectal cancer. The relative rate for colorectal cancer among those with breast cancer was 0.80.

The team concluded

Women with a prior diagnosis of breast cancer are not at an increased risk of colorectal cancer; these women can follow average risk screening guidelines for colorectal cancer.

Their results were reported in the [October 2005 issue of the *American Journal of Gastoenterology*](http://www.amjgastro.com/showContent.asp?DID=4&SessionGUID=B97EAA8F-8AE5-4F62-B825-A7AAC2731B33&id=ajg_316102005&type=abstract)

An [article in *The Lancet*](http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673600041970/abstract) in 2001 found a slightly reduced risk for colon and rectal cancer after breast cancer, compared to what was expected in the overall population. Women with breast cancer were 5% less likely to develop colon cancer and 13% less likely to be diagnosed with rectal cancer. Reduced risk was greatest in women whose breast cancer was diagnosed over age 65, in white women, and in women with local stage cancers.

Despite these results in the overall population a [2003 study](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12825849&query_hl=1) found that certain subgroups of breast cancer survivors had an increased risk to develop colorectal cancer. That included women with

+ a family history of breast cancer
+ high body mass index (BMI) over 30 mg/m²
+ lobular rather than ductal cancer

Most women with breast cancer probably can follow colorectal screening guidelines for people of average risk but should discuss their individual risk factors with their doctors.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh tested the combination of trimetrexate (TMTX) and capecitabine (Xeloda™) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer whose disease had already gotten worse with previous treatments. All patients had received 5FU (flourouracil) and 94% had received irinotecan (Camptosar™). This was the second or third treatment regimen for all patients in the study.

Although the combination showed some effectiveness and was tolerated by patients, there were other current treatments that were more active, the research team concluded.

In the phase I part of the study, they were able to determine a tolerable dose of 100 mg/m² and 1000 mg/m² of capecitabine. Serious side effects included abdominal pain in 12.5% of patients and vomiting in 9.4.%.

Twenty-seven patients were included in evaluation of effectiveness. One patient had a complete response, another a partial response to the combination for an overall response rate of 7.7%. The median time until the cancer progressed was 3.3 months and the median overall survival time was 5.5 months.

Khalid Matin M.D. led the research team who concluded,

The combination of TMTX and CAP is well tolerated. However, recent studies have shown more active regimens in the second- and third-line metastatic setting.

[Read the study abstract in the October 2005 *American Journal of Clinical Oncology*](http://www.amjclinicaloncology.com/pt/re/ajco/abstract.00000421-200510000-00002.htm;jsessionid=DRiuNuvn4zz9M04ZmT6mCxWyaXmmGcTVfGHCcwJk2is2iVRHDQFv!-1202648512!-949856145!9001!-1)