Fight Colorectal Cancer

On Wednesday, April 26 C3 advocates will join with those of several other cancer-related organizations and visti the Washington, D.C. offices of Senators and Representatives as a part of One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC) Lobby Day. The message they will deliver to Congress is our nation must get back on the path towards eliminating cancer death and suffering by 2015.

In order to get on the path and stay on it C3 joins its OVAC colleagues in urgeing Congress to do the following:

Invest in Cancer Research: Fund the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at $5.34 billion and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities at $200 million.

Invest in Cancer Prevention and Control Programs: Fund the cancer and prevntion and control programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at $427.5 million.

Address the National Nursing Shortage: Fund the nursing programs at the Health Reaources and Services Administration (HRSA) for Fiscal Year 2007 at $175 million. 

Not going to Washington? You can still help by calling your Senators and Representative on Wednesday, April 26. When they receive phone calls the same day as the visit they will see this needs their attention.

 Here is how you do it:

Go to the C3 One Minute Advocate page. Look on the right side of the page for the item "Find Elected Officials." Enter your Zip Code and click "Go."

You should be on a page called "Elected Federal Officials" where your two U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative are listed. Click on "View Info" which is located below the offical’s photo.

This page contains the contact information for the elected official. Call the phone number and ask to speak with the legslative assistant in charge of health issues. Tell the person you urge the Senator or Representative to vote for the funding levels meantioned above. Ask if the official will do so. Leave your name and address so the office can contact you with a reply.

You may not speak with the legislative assistant for a varity of reasons. If that is the case you can leave a message for that person with the informaton you would have said directly to him or her.

You can also fax or email the office with the same information should you prefer this method.

Should you not hear from the office in a couple of weeks call again and ask the status of your request.

Let us know about your efforts by emailing C3.

You can make a difference. 

Erbitux™ (cetuximab) blocks EGFR, a receptor on colorectal cancer cells that promotes the growth of the cell. Some patients who are treated with Erbitux™ will respond to the drug, and their tumors will get smaller.  For these patients, survival time is increased.  Others show no response and have no improved survival.

French scientists explored some of the genes that are associated with the EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) pathway for mutations that might affect response to Erbitux™.  Looking at 30 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, they found that 11 (37%) responded to Erbitux treatment. 

One mutated gene — KRAS — was significantly associated with lack of drug response.  None of patients who responded had mutated KRAS, while nearly 70% of those who had no objective reductions in their tumors did have KRAS mutations.

In addition to Erbitux™ response, KRAS mutations predicted poorer survival.  Patients with mutated KRAS in their tumor had a median overall survival time of 6.9 months compared to those without mutations whose median survival was 16.3 months.

Study results were reported in the April 15, 2006 issue of Cancer Research.

The research team, headed by Astrid Lievre, reported:

In conclusion, in this study, KRAS mutations are a predictor of resistance to cetuximab therapy and are associated with a worse prognosis.

KRAS cetuximab resistance

Women who have excess fat around their waists, so-called central adiposity, have an increased risk for colon cancer according to a study in the March 2000 issue of the International Journal of Cancer.

Studying 24,000 women over 10 years, researchers in Australia measured waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratios (WHT) ratios at the beginning of the study.  During the ten years, there were 212 colon cancers.  Women whose waist measurements were larger than their hips, a sign of central adiposity, were about 30% more likely to have colon cancer than  women with narrow waists.  Larger waist measurements (waist circumference) increaed colon cancer risk by about 15%.

There was some evidence that additional central fat predisposed women in the study to cancers in the proximal colon or the first section of colon.  Given their increased risk for colon cancer and the stronger possibility that the cancer might be located near the beginning of the colon, women with excessive waist fat probably should consider screening tests like colonoscopy that examine the entire colon.

Other studies have showed a similar increase in colorectal cancer risk for men with excess waist fat.

An article about the study is available from Reuters Health..

waist fat colon cancer risk colon cancer in women

Health and Human Services officials have clarified ways that drug manufacturers can continue to provide free medications to needy patients, even if those patients are enrolled in Medicare Part D prescription coverage.

HHS Inspector General Daniel Levinson clarifed his position on Tuesday, April 19, 2006 that there are “lawful avenues” for pharmaceutical companies to give financial assistance to needy Medicare patients.

Critical to such programs are:

• No Medicare payment is sought for free drugs.
• Assistance is based solely on financial need.
• There is a methodology for assistance that does not take into account the patient’s choice of a Medicare Part D drug plan.

In January 2006, HHS provided guidance to pharmaceutical companies and patient assistance programs to ensure that the programs operated legally and did not pressure any patient to take a particular drug.

There has been confusion over whether patients could be required to drop out of Part D in order to receive drug assistance or help with co-pays.  In addition, some pharmaceutical company patient assistance programs have required that patients enroll in Part D.  However, patients do not need to drop out of Part D or be compelled to enroll to meet federal requirements.

Pharmaceutical companies can help with Medicare Part D co-pays as long as there is no company pressure to persuade a patient to use a particular drug.  Many companies are turning to not-for-profit organizations to provide counseling and financial help with co-pays through unrestricted grant programs to those organizations.

Past posts have discussed the impact of the 2006 funding cuts on cancer research and prevention. The President’s Budget proposal for 2007 would increase the cuts.

Members of Congress on the respective Appropriations Committees cannot adequately fund programs in FY 07 if they are not allocated the money necessary to administer these programs. As we saw last year, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees can only spend as much money as the overall Budget Resolution allocates.

 

…The Specter-Harkin and DeLauro amendments sought to restore funding for the health andeducation functions in the respective Senate and House Budget Resolutions to the levels provided just two years ago (Fiscal Year 2005). It is important that health and education advocates support the restoration of these critical funds this year, or the trend will only get worse as additional reductions are made with each passing year

On an inflation-adjusted basis, the current NIH appropriation is smaller than it was four years ago. In constant dollars, NIH funding has declined by more than $1 billion since 2003 …

 

Scientists across the country have seen delays in processing grant applications, elimination of cost-of-living allowances for multiyear grants and cuts in continuing grants previously awarded. For young researchers, there is the real danger that they may not receive any NIH funding. Some of our best and brightest young investigators … may leave the profession. What a loss that would be for American biomedical research.