Colorectal cancer screening rates for colorectal cancer improved between 2000 and 2008 for white, black and Asian-Americans aged 50 and over—but barely improved for Hispanics and actually worsed for American Indians and Alaska Natives.

The latest statistics, just reported by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality on March 23, found that:

• In 2008, among adults aged 50 or over, about 60 percent of whites reported ever having been screened (up from 51 percent in 2000);
• About 55 percent of blacks and Asian Americans had been screened at least once (compared to 44 percent in 2000);
• In the same age group, only 44 percent of Hispanics reported ever having been screened (slightly increased from just 35 percent in 2000), even though this population has the third-highest death rate from colorectal cancer;
• Screening rates actually decreased among American Indians and Alaska Natives, to only 37 percent in 2008 (compared to 41 percent in 2000).

Among people without health insurance, screening rates were significantly lower in all ethnic groups:

• Among both whites and blacks with no health insurance, the at-least-once screening rate was about 30 percent (increased barely from 26% in 2000);
• Screening worsened to an abysmal 13 percent (down from 16 percent in 2000) among Hispanics with no health insurance.

In summary, even among those with insurance, only half—and often far fewer—people over age 50 are getting even one screening. Among the uninsured, screening is just not being done for a cancer that can be prevented or cured if caught early.

Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2010 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports

Shortages of prescription drugs cost the United States more than $200 million.

In addition, shortages force doctors to delay or cancel treatment.  Patient safety is compromised when doctors have to use different or unfamiliar drugs when they can’t get the right ones.

In the six months from July to December of 2010, 240 drugs were either in short supply or completely unavailable.  More than 400 generics were back-ordered for more than five days.

Most of the medicines with shortages are necessary for emergency care, sedation, or chemotherapy — including leucovorin which is a backbone of most colorectal cancer treatment regimens. Read the rest of this entry »

In 2007, 62 out of every 100,000 black men in the United States were diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer, the highest rate of colorectal cancer of any US group.

Overall, men were more likely to get colorectal cancer than women — almost 53 of every 100,000 American males compared to 40 per 100,000 females.

Reporting colorectal cancer incidence rates for 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged regular colorectal cancer screening for all average risk adults 50 years and older to cut deaths from colorectal cancer.

According to the CDC, 142,672 Americans were diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2007, including 72,755 men and 69,917 women. Read the rest of this entry »

APP Pharmaceuticals has voluntarily recalled five lots of irinotecan for injection.

Some customers discovered small particles of foreign material in one lot of the irinotecan vials.  Further inspection found fungal microbes in the vials they sent back.

It is unlikely that you as a patient would see the recalled vials or particles directly since irinotecan is diluted before your IV infusion.  However, you might develop an infection or other adverse event.  If that happens, call your doctor immediately! Read the rest of this entry »

What do they have in common? All are forms of creative expression that cancer patients have used to “add life to their days,” wrote oncologist Evan Lipson, MD, of Johns Hopkins University in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (online edition Feb. 7, 2011).

One of his patients, Mike, was building a stone patio in his backyard because it was “therapeutic, physical, and something I could control and have a sense of accomplishment.”

Among the “unique and remarkable ways that people living with cancer make the most of their time,” Lipson has observed several themes: exercising, leaving a legacy, activism, building relationships, giving. And the most powerful, he thinks, is “creating something.”

Read the rest of this entry »