Michigan recognizes March 2007 as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

Governor of Michigan Jennifer M. Granholm has recognized March 2007 as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, part of a national effort to increase awareness of a serious, but preventable, disease that affects many citizens of Michigan.

Janet Olsweski, Director of the Michigan Department of Community Health said,

Colorectal cancer is one of the most preventable forms of cancer. Screening not only detects the disease at an early, curable stage, but it can also prevent it by finding and removing polyps-or precancerous growths-that might become colorectal cancer.

Although the Michigan Cancer Consortium recommends colorectal cancer screening for men and women beginning at age 50, only 53 percent of Michigan adults age 50 and older have been screened.

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in Michigan.  According to American Cancer Society estimates 1,750 people in Michigan will die of colorectal cancer in 2007 and there will be 5,570 new cases of colon or rectal cancer diagnosed.

Posted by Kate Murphy on March 5th, 2007
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Personalized treatment for colorectal cancer is exciting and hopeful

This morning I posted some exciting research from France that reports on a gene expression signature that predicts whether someone with colorectal cancer will respond to FOLFIRI treatment. 

Instead of having to try the chemotherapy, wait several weeks, and run scans to see if the tumor is getting smaller, testing for fourteen genes in a patient’s tumor could tell doctors right away whether it was worthwhile to treat with FOLFIRI.

When I was first diagnosed with colon cancer nearly 25 years ago, there was one drug used to treat it — 5FU or fluorouracil.  It had been around since the fifties, not very effective, but the only thing available.  When a modifier drug — either levamisole or leucovorin — was added to it, it just about doubled expected survival time.  But that still was only a year.

Today standard treatment still has the old standby 5FU as the backbone of treatment, but two new chemotherapy drugs are available along with three biologic agents and an oral form of 5FU.  Median survival has doubled again, to two years.

The problem with these new choices is making the choice.  What works best for what patient.  Will the tumors shrink?  Will patients have life-threatening side effects?  What should we start with?

Like other cancers, colon and rectal cancer has entered a brand-new era of personalized medicine.  Giving the right treatment to the right patient at the right time will save frustration and unnecessary misery.  For some patients, it will save lives.

The French research team dug through more than 14,000 genes before they narrowed down their search to 14.  This is painstaking, difficult laboratory work.  It is made possible by better technology and bigger and faster computers.  It would have been impossible twenty-five years ago.  It would have been impossible even ten years ago.

But it is not only possible today — it’s happening.  We may soon be able to decide the best treatment or whether someone needs chemotherapy at all.

This is expensive research and demands highly skilled scientists. Many experiments will lead nowhere and scientists will have to begin over and try again.  We need to have the patience to support it and the willingness to pay for it.

Cuts in research funding for the National Cancer Institute demoralize these dedicated scientists and jeopardize their work.  We have to fund the fight!

Colorectal cancer is preventable, treatable, and beatable.

Posted by Kate Murphy on March 4th, 2007
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Unique set of genes predicts whether colorectal cancer patients will respond to FOLFIRI

Deciding what chemotherapy treatment is best for an individual patient is difficult.  Only about half of patients with colon or rectal cancer will respond to a specific drug combination and even the responders will eventually become resistant to the drug.

Chemotherapy becomes a process of trial and error, giving drugs and watching for tumors to shrink (respond), remain the same (stable disease), or get larger or more numerous (progress.)  This is a slow and tedious process during which up to half of patients are actually getting treatment that doesn’t benefit them — and missing out on a different treatment that might help.

Researchers in France have identified a signature of 14 genes that predict response to FOLFIRI — the combination of irinotecan fluorouracil, and leucovorin.  FOLFIRI is one of the standard first-line combination treatments for colorectal cancer.

Working with tumors from 21 patients with colorectal cancer that had spread to the liver but could not be surgically removed, they found that there were 14 genes that very accurately predicted who would and who would not respond to FOLFIRI treatment.  Nine patients (43%) did respond to FOLFIRI and all had the 14 gene signature.  Eleven did not respond, and 10 of the 11 did not have the profile.

There was no difference in other patient characteristics that might have predicted the difference in response. 

While the gene signature analysis was based on a small number of patients, the research team believes that it stable and reliable.  However, they are currently involved in a larger study with more patient in several different institutions to validate their findings.

Eventually, they plan on a large, randomized clinical trial that would test whether using the 14 gene signature to choose treatment with FOLFIRI would improve survival of people with metastatic colorectal cancer.

SOURCE: Del Rio et. al, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 25, No 7 (March 1), 2007: pp. 773-780.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR PATIENTS

This is an early study which needs to be validated in a larger group of patients and then tested in a randomized clinical trial.  It isn’t ready to be used to predict response to treatment yet.

It is not available to help make decisions about the right treatment for an individual patient right now.

Posted by Kate Murphy on March 4th, 2007
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C3 to Ring Opening Bell of NYSE

 Last fall Rob Michelson, stage IV colon cancer survivor and C3 advocate, came up with a great little idea — have C3 ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in early March to “ring in” Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. As Rob works for the Exchange, he knew exactly what we needed to do to make this happen. He helped C3 write the necessary letters to the right people.

We found out late Friday that indeed, C3 will ring the opening bell of the NYSE Monday, March 5. Rob, as well as Carlea Bauman, C3 Executive Director, and Kate Murphy, C3 Director of Research Communication, will be there to represent C3 and the many people affected with colon and rectal cancer.

You can watch the ringing of the opening bell several ways:

• Live on the cable channel CNBC exactly at 9:30 am Eastern;
• Live web cast from the NYSE web site beginning at 9:25 am Eastern; or
• Via an archived version of the web cast from the NYSE web site.

Rob wrote the following in an Advocacy Blog post of his:

“C3 advocates through its action — and that’s what gives it its unique focus within the CRC community and gives it an opportunity to transform the movement for greater impact.”

Congratulations, Rob, for advocating through your actions!

Posted by Dusty Weaver on March 3rd, 2007
Posted in: Policy & Advocacy News | 1 Comment »

My Story and My Passion – Why I’m Heading to Washington, DC Again!

Editor’s note: The death of her brother caused the life of Cheryl Cowles to go in a new direction with a powerful desire to help others. After over 25 years of teaching, she decided to retire and focus on issues related to colon and rectal cancer. She is involved with the American Cancer Society, speaks to groups about early detection, and designed bracelets to generate funds for C3 and cancer research. Next month Cheryl will travel to Washington, DC to be her brother’s voice as a part of Call-On Congress.

My brother Christopher lost his battle with colorectal cancer March 21, 2005. My life changed dramatically that day and will never be the same. Losing someone you love to cancer is not something you can easily put into words. Our family experienced a pain and emptiness that will never be filled again.

Yet in the loss, something else happened for me personally. I wanted his suffering to be for gain, not for pain. After a year had passed, I realized I could honor his life by telling his story and helping others. I also began to understand the bigger picture. I started to search for ways to get involved in the cancer community.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) seemed like a logical place to start. I was able to get involved in several ways i.e. the ACS’s signature event Relay For Life and also I got involved with their advocacy program. Even though I was involved it was not enough as I had a strong need to do something specific for colon cancer so I was glad I finally came across C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition.

At first I was overwhelmed with the message to Congress that C3 was sending. I hadn’t ever considered the political arena that surrounds health care issues. It was all foreign to me and I didn’t think it was something I could understand let alone get involved in. After all I had no political abilities, or so I thought.

A year passed and I happened to e-mail Nancy Roach, C3 President, asking if she knew of anyone in Colorado that I could hook up with to get an event going in March for colon cancer. Her response to me was “How would you like to go to DC with us for C3 and OVAC [One Voice Against Cancer] advocacy training for Lobby Day?”

What seemed impossible a year before was now in my reach mainly because I was in a whole new place and had grown enough through other cancer-related experienced. I learned a spiritual lesson on the way: God’s timing is everything. Instead of being frightened, I knew immediately that I was going. I was so excited I told everyone I knew. What made such an impression on me was here was this person, Nancy, who didn’t know anything about me except that I was passionate about doing something positive for colon cancer and she had faith in me that I didn’t have in myself.

Needless to say the experience was amazing. I learned so much from the training and other advocates like Dusty Weaver, C3 Grassroots Coordinator, Jim Wetekam, C3 Policy Director, and Judi Sohn, C3 Operations and Communications Director. I remember being very nervous about actually going to our appointments. Dusty said, “You have a story and you have the passion it takes to get your message across. You go for it. You can do it.”

I told my story but I didn’t understand at that point the importance. I hadn’t had time to digest all that I had learned; all I knew was that I was part of something big and very important. I also was aware of the need to keep up the work at home in terms of visiting our Congressmen on our home turf. I learned one individual can make a difference.

In September I was asked to go back to DC with the ACS to attend Celebration On The Hill, largely because of my training with C3 and OVAC. The experience was once again mind-boggling as I witnessed first hand the power we have as constituents. When I told my story this time I was more comfortable doing so. I realized what I had was enough and that my story was compelling and, most importantly, heartfelt. No longer was I just repeating words I was told to say at the training but what I was saying was a part of me now.

I’m hooked on advocacy and excited to see how far C3 will go with people who simply tell their stories with passion and commitment — being heard and making a difference. I’ll continue to tell my story and it is more than enough!

Posted by Cheryl Cowles on March 3rd, 2007
Posted in: Policy & Advocacy News | 2 Comments »