Obese people on Medicare  now have the opportunity to have regular weight loss counseling paid for when offered by a primary care provider.  Since this is considered prevention, there is no co-pay.

On November 29, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that there was enough evidence that intensive behavioral counseling was reasonable and necessary to prevent disease or disability and that Medicare beneficiaries were entitled to coverage as a preventive service.

This is particularly good news for people trying to prevent colon or rectal cancer since studies have consistently found a link between body mass index (fatness) and colorectal cancer, including the World  Cancer Research Foundation which included BMI and colorectal cancer in their 2007 comprehensive analysis reported in  Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer. Read the rest of this entry »

Today there are more than 1 million survivors of colon and rectal cancer in the United States, probably 600,000 to 700,000 with no sign of cancer.

And we are grateful for their courage and persistence and for all the people that have made more cures and longer survival possible.

The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship defines  someone as a cancer survivor from the time of diagnosis and for the balance of life. Read the rest of this entry »

Although FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg announced a final decision on November 18 to drop breast cancer from the Avastin label, metastatic colorectal cancer continues to be an approved use.

The Avastin® (bevacizumab) label includes the following approved indication:

Metastatic colorectal cancer, with intravenous 5-fluorouracil–based chemotherapy for first- or second-line treatment.

It is important to know that there is currently no approval or evidence for using Avastin alone or in early stage colon or rectal cancer.

On Wednesday night, Dr. Lindsey Poppe, the Pharmacy Clinical Manager for Oncology for the University of North Carolina hospital system talked about the alternatives and options that patients have when directly faced with the current chemo drug shortage.

You can watch a recording of the webinar on our website, along with all of our past patient webinars.

Webinar: What to Do When Your Doc is Out of 5-FU from Fight Colorectal Cancer on Vimeo.

Cover model Erika Kratzer poses in the beautiful waters of Lake George, NY for the 2012 Colondar, just published by our friends over at the Colon Club.

Kratzer, an eleven year survivor of stage IV colon cancer, is joined by twelve new models this year, all of them baring their surgical scars to send a message of hope to young colon and rectal cancer patients.

You can order your Colondar online.

If you were diagnosed with colorectal cancer before the age of 50, you might be Mr. June or Ms. January in 2013.Email the Colon Club for an application.