When Avastin is added to the combination of Xeloda and irinotecan as an initial treatment for advanced colorectal cancer, the treatment is equally effective as Avastin with FOLFIRI.

But side effects are more difficult.

After a randomized clinical trial comparing Avastin with XELIRI (Xeloda, irinotecan) to Avastin with FOLFIRI (5-FU, leucovorin, irinotecan), researchers concluded that excessive side effects made using the XELIRI combination unwise. Read the rest of this entry »

Moscone Center

We’re getting ready for the 2012 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium next week at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

Kim Ryan, Nancy Roach, and I will be there checking out the latest colon and rectal cancer prevention and treatment research and talking with leaders in the colorectal cancer field.

Colon and rectal cancer is featured on Saturday, January 21, but we’ll also be looking at research results for cancers in the upper digestive tract, liver, and pancreas on Thursday and Friday, visiting exhibits, and meeting with members of the Fight Colorectal Cancer Medical Advisory Board.

• Watch for our reports from the Symposium on the Fight Colorectal Cancer Research and Treatment News.
• Follow our tweets on Twitter @FightCRC.
• In February, join us and Dr. Dan Sargent from the Mayo Clinic for a Report from the 2012 GI Cancers Symposium webinar. Read the rest of this entry »

Making those New Year’s Resolutions?

You can do a lot to prevent colon and rectal cancer this year . . . and in the future.

Number One Resolution — Be screened for colorectal cancer if you are 50 or over, earlier if you are at higher risk. Read the rest of this entry »

Another year, full of hope and promises.

Won’t you help make our dream of a world free from colorectal cancer come true in 2012.

• Raise awareness that screening prevents colorectal cancer. Make sure you, your family, and your friends are screened for colorectal cancer as soon you reach 50 — earlier if you are at higher risk.
• Tell your friends living with colon or rectal cancer that they can call the Answer Line with their questions and concerns.
• Join us for supportive discussions in the Fight Colorectal Support Community and let others know they’ll find help there.
• Come to Call on Congress and make sure that programs and funding for colorectal cancer prevention and research are strong and growing.
• Finally, do one last, very important thing in 2011 – Make a gift to Fight Colorectal Cancer and ensure that our programs and research grants continue in 2012 and until we end suffering and death from colon and rectal cancer.

Have a great New Year — and get behind the cure.

Before 1980, colorectal cancer death rates were actually higher for whites than African Americans.

But, as rates began falling in the 1980′s for both blacks and white patients, decreases for whites were substantially greater than those for blacks.  Between 1985 and 2008, mortality rates for whites with colorectal cancer fell 40 percent, while black rates declined by less than 20 percent.

The decrease in black death rates was higher than those for whites at every stage at diagnosis, but strikingly different when cancer had spread to distant sites.   For whites whose colon or rectal cancer was first found at stage IV, death rates fell by more than 30 percent, while black rates declined by less than 5 percent.

Over time, five year survival after regional and distant diagnoses grew for white patients but remained essentially unchanged for blacks. Read the rest of this entry »