President’s Cancer Panel Recommends National Priority for Cancer

In a new report Maximizing Our Nation’s Investment in Cancer:Three Crucial Actions for America’s Health the President’s Cancer Panel makes three recommendations to the President that they feel are critical to the battle against cancer in the United States.

• Make reducing the cancer burden a national priority.
• Ensure that all Americans have timely access to needed health care and disease prevention measures.
• End the scourge of tobacco in the United States. Continue reading…

  Posted by Kate Murphy on October 28th, 2008
  Posted in: Policy & Advocacy News, Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
  Tags: cancer research, colorectal cancer prevention, Kate's Thoughts

Clinical Trial: Vaccine Therapy after Surgery

Can the body develop an immune response that will destroy cancer cells in the body and prevent cancer from returning after surgery to remove metastatic tumors?  If it can, what’s the best way to do that?

Researchers are studying vaccines and immune response in patients whose colorectal cancer has spread beyond their original cancer to their liver or lungs.  They’re looking for patients who have completed surgery for a  clinical trial of PANVAC-VF. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on October 28th, 2008
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: clinical trials, vaccines

Another Gene Found Linked to Lack of Erbitux/Vectibix Response

Another mutated gene has been discovered that appears to cause resistance to treatment with the EGFR inhibitors Erbitux® (cetuximab) and  Vectibix™ (panitumumab).

Only a fraction of patients who receive Erbitux or Vectibix respond to it.  There is now convincing evidence that the 30 to 40 percent of colorectal cancer patients whose tumors have mutated KRAS genes don’t benefit, but what about others who have normal or wild-type KRAS and don’t respond either?

Scientists in Italy have found that about 12 percent of wild-type patients have a mutation in their tumor’s BRAF gene, and these patients showed no response to Erbitux or Vectibix. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on October 27th, 2008
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: BRAF, EGFR inhibitors, KRAS

No Benefit with Erbitux in KRAS Mutated Tumors

Patients whose colorectal cancer tumors had a mutation in the KRAS gene had no benefit from treatment with Erbitux® (cetuximab).  They lived no longer after Erbitux treatment began than patients who had no Erbitux. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on October 23rd, 2008
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: Erbitux, KRAS, personalized medicine

Remembering What the Doctor Said — Does Age Matter?

When patients see a cancer doctor for the first time, they don’t remember everything the doctor tells them.  In fact, both older patients and younger ones remembered about half what they heard about their diagnoses, treatment, chances for cure, and life expectancy.

Patients over 65 only remembered less than younger ones in those situations where visits were longer and more information was discussed.

Prognosis did make a difference.  Patients with poorer prognosis recalled less, no matter what age they were.  And, despite whether the expected cancer outcomes were good or not, the more a doctor talked about prognosis, the less patients remembered. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on October 21st, 2008
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: emotional support