Fight Colorectal Cancer

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nevada) and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert C. Byrd (West Virginia) unveiled a $100.3 billion economic recovery package. Read the rest of this entry »

AACR Panel of Scientists

Some thoughts from Kate:

I’m here just outside of Washington for the AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research conference.  Smaller the the huge American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in the spring, this meeting focuses on research into how to prevent cancer.

I’m part of the Scientist-Survivor program, a special project that links cancer survivors with scientist mentors to help us understand the research being discussed here so we can bring it back to other survivors and advocates.

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Identifying colorectal cancer patients with Lynch syndrome (also known as hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer or HNPCC) makes an important difference  in preventing further cancers for them and also for their family members.  However, family or personal medical histories don’t always find everyone at risk.

One of every 35 patients with colorectal cancer has Lynch syndrome, and each one has at least three family members who carry a Lynch gene and will need more intensive polyp and cancer surveillance beginning when they are young adults.

Researchers at Ohio State University compared methods of testing colon tumors to screen for Lynch syndrome and predict those patients who need further genetic testing.  They also looked at more traditional ways of finding potential Lynch syndrome, including family histories and age at diagnosis. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday, Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Max Baucus (D-Montana), unveiled his “Call to Action” for healthcare reform in 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

Call 1-800-535-0109 to Register

Research to Practice has a few openings left for stage II and III colon cancer patients to take part in a study of patient perspectives on treatment decision-making. If you’ve had surgery within the past three months and talked to a medical oncologist, your point of view can help other patients facing similar situations.

Payments up to $250 will be made for completed surveys and for evaluating educational materials. Read the rest of this entry »