Colorectal Cancer Coalition

PLWC Update: Transcript of chat with Dr. Richard Schilsky now available

The transcript of the People Living with Cancer chat with Dr. Richard Schilsky is now available on the PLWC site.

Dr. Schilsky discussed Gastrointestinal Cancers: Scientific News for Patients on January 26, 2005 as part of the PLWC chat program.

He answered questions from family members and patients with colorectal, gall bladder, pancreatic, gastric, and esophageal cancers during the online chat.

In response to a question about new screening tests for colorectal cancer, he said:

Virtual colonoscopy and stool DNA testing are very exciting new approaches to screening for colorectal cancer. Virtual colonoscopy, which is a CT scan, seems to be as accurate as conventional colonoscopy in detecting colon polyps that are of a moderate or large size.

Stool DNA testing is still being evaluated, but it has the potential to be a better test than looking for blood in the stool because it is more specific for the presence of malignant cells.

Another question was asked about the limiting factors for using bevacizumab (Avastin) for treating advanced colorectal cancer.  Dr. Schilsky replied:

Generally speaking, bevacizumab is given together with chemotherapy for patients with advanced colon cancer. Most of the time, the bevacizumab treatment is stopped when the cancer progresses.

Bevacizumab can have many side effects, including high blood pressure and a risk of perforation of the bowel, and there is very little information on how long bevacizumab can be given safely.

Throughout March, Dr. Robert Mayer from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute will answer email questions about Preventing, Screening, and Treating Colorectal Cancer.  You can down load a flyer with more information, submit a question, request a transcript, or find links to recommended reading on PLWC.

This news article was originally posted on February 10th, 2006 and was accurate at the time of publication. Since then, information may have changed or links may now be outdated. Please call our Answer Line 1-877-427-2111 for the latest information, or talk to your doctor before making any medical decisions.

Posted by Kate Murphy on February 10th, 2006

Leave a Comment Comments RSS

Your comments are welcome. However, specific medical advice will not be provided, and we urge you to consult with a qualified physician for diagnosis and for answers to your personal questions. C3 is not responsible for the medical accuracy of any comments left by persons other than C3 staff members. C3 staff members monitor comments and may respond publicly where appropriate.

Please note that we automatically publish the name that you enter next to your post. Also note that our pages are automatically indexed by Google and other search engines, and your name may therefore appear in search results on those sites. So if you wish to remain anonymous please use a different name or enter 'Anon' as the name.

We regret that we are unable to privately answer questions left as comments. So please do not include your phone number, email or mailing address in the body of your comment. For the best personal and direct response to your colorectal cancer treatment questions, please call our Answer Line at 1-877-4CRC-111 (1-877-427-2111).

Name Email (hidden) URL Comments (Basic HTML is allowed - a href, strong, em, blockquote)