Does adding Erbitux to chemotherapy help people whose colorectal cancer has spread beyond the colon or rectum to distant body sites?

The answer is yes, according to a pooled analysis of two large randomized clinical trials comparing chemotherapy alone to chemotherapy plus Erbitux® (cetuximab).  However, benefits depend on whether or not patient tumors have mutations of two genes, KRAS and BRAF.

Previous studies have shown that only patients with normal or wild type KRAS get any benefit from EGFR inhibitors Erbitux or Vectibix™ (panitumumab) so a combined analysis of the CRYSTAL and OPUS studies looked only a outcomes in KRAS wild type tumors.  In addition, the research team studied the effect of mutations to BRAF.

They found that adding Erbitux to initial chemotherapy improved overall survival time, time until cancers got worse (progression-free survival), the percent of tumors that shrank with treatment (overall response rate) for tumors with wild-type KRAS.  The best outcomes were in patients who had both wild-type KRAS and wild-type BRAF. Read the rest of this entry »

Are you a colorectal cancer survivor living in Western North Carolina?

Or are you someone who treats colon and rectal cancer patients in that region?

Both survivors and health care professionals are invited to come together at a one day networking forum at the Wind River Cancer Wellness Center on June 30th to identify the critical issues important to people living in Western North Carolina and share local resources for survivors. The event, including lunch, is free, but registration is required. Read the rest of this entry »

This week the federal government began mailing $250 checks to Medicare Part D enrollees who have reached the doughnut hole where Part D no longer covers prescription drugs.

These checks are sent automatically to seniors when 2010 prescription costs reach the coverage gap.

It is not necessary to apply for the check!

But scam artists are already at work, contacting  seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries asking for social security numbers, bank accounts, and pretending to help them apply for the $250 rebates. Read the rest of this entry »

Adding Erbitux® (cetuximab) to standard chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer didn’t improve patient outcomes and added more side effects.

All of the patients in the NO147 trial had cancer that had spread to their lymph nodes and had surgery before beginning chemotherapy. They had normal or wild-type KRAS genes in their tumors.They were randomly assigned to FOLFOX chemotherapy for 6 months or FOLFOX plus Erbitux. 

The trial was closed before the planned number of patients were enrolled because an analysis showed that there was no benefit to the additional Erbitux and continuing the trial would not help patients. Read the rest of this entry »

Young patients with stage II or III colon cancer get equal benefit from chemotherapy as older patients, and they have similar side effects.

Five years after treatment, 67 percent of patients under the age of fifty hadn’t had their cancer spread beyond the colon (recurrence-free interval), the same percentage that applied to patients who were fifty or over.

Overall survival and disease-free survival were somewhat better for young patients because they had fewer other reasons for dying.  Overall and disease-free survival reflect patients who are alive five years after beginning treatment.  Neither includes people who have died from any cause, including their cancer. Read the rest of this entry »