Fight Colorectal Cancer

single nucleotide polymorphism

People with a variation in the gene that controls how fat is metabolized by cells have a lowered chance of getting colorectal cancer, even in families with already increased risk.

Scientists studied differences in short regions of the ADIPOQ gene called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) among patients with colorectal cancer and a similar group of people who didn’t have cancer. In two different study groups, they found that one variation reduced risk of getting cancer by about 30 percent. Read the rest of this entry »

Oncologists often recommend that patients on chemotherapy avoid antioxidant supplements including vitamin C.  Now basic research shows that vitamin C reduces the activity of several different chemotherapy drugs, both in cancer cell lines and in experimental mice.

Vitamin C appears to protect the cell against death during chemotherapy by restoring its mitochondria.  Mitochondria power cells, converting nutrients to energy.  When mitochondria are damaged they force the cell to die — the goal of chemotherapy.  By revitalizing damaged mitochondria, the vitamin reduced the effectiveness of all the chemo drugs tested, by as much as 70 percent for some. Read the rest of this entry »

On Tuesday President Bush signed a continuing resolution (CR) that will fund the government for another twelve months.

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Robb Kerr

Robb Kerr, one of the first patient advocates to be part of C3, the Colorectal Cancer Coalition, died at home in Nashville, Tennesee on September 29, 2008.

First diagnosed with advanced colorectal cancer in 2002, Robb was treated in many cancer clinical trials and became an ardent supporter of cancer research.  He was a mentor to other cancer patients considering clinical trials at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville. He also spoke out for the needs of people without health insurance and for universal health care. Read the rest of this entry »

2008 ASTRO Annual Meeting

Patients whose cancers have spread to the brain experience more learning and memory problems when radiation to their whole brain follows more targeted radiotherapy.

Study results presented at the 2008 American Society for Radiation Therapy and Oncology annual meeting in Boston found that whole brain radiation after radiosurgery doubled the risk of cognitive problems. Read the rest of this entry »