By Curt Pesmen on Nov. 2, 2012

 Fight Colorectal Cancer warmly welcomes Curt Pesmen, founding editor of LIVESTRONG Quarterly magazine and author of The Colon Cancer Survivors’ Guide (Tatra Press), who also has written for Esquire, SELF and The New York Times. A long-time admirer of Kate Murphy, he has generously offered to help fill her shoes by sending in Research & Treatment News blogs.

At first, it may not make total sense to hear news—released Oct. 30 in an American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) journal—that colorectal cancer survivors tend to have less-positive outlooks and poorer quality of life reports than do breast cancer, melanoma, or other cancer survivors.

 But those are the findings fanning out among oncologists, researchers, and patients, in the wake of the recent report (funded by the National Cancer Institute) that studied more than 1,800 cancer survivors and more than 24,000 people who had never received a cancer diagnosis. The extensive study also found that:

•          Melanoma, breast and prostate cancer survivors reported quality of life similar to adults without cancer.

•          Cervical, blood, colorectal, and short-survival cancer survivors reported worse health compared to adults without cancer.

•          The researchers estimated 3.3 million American cancer survivors have “poor” physical health and that 1.4 million survivors have below-average mental health-related quality of life.

(You can find highlights of the study here.)

 The study author reflected on the study’s findings, particularly concerning colorectal cancer survivors. Read the rest of this entry »

From Fight Colorectal Cancer’s October 2012 webinar

With 12 million people in the U.S. living with and beyond cancer, health and psychosocial issues facing survivors are finally becoming active topics of research and discussion.

The Oct. 20^th Journal of Clinical Oncology  is a special “survivorship” issue featuring an array of special articles primarily focusing on the health issues such as bone health, symptoms like  chemobrain, lifestyle factors such as physical activity to help prevent recurrence. Articles also focus on fertility preservation, and sexuality issues in cancer survivors.

“It has become clear that sexual function is often profoundly disrupted by cancer treatment,” wrote the authors of a review article “Sexuality in Adult Cancer Survivors.”  Read the rest of this entry »

What a way to celebrate National Colorectal Cancer Survivor’s Day – a huge meeting of researchers, cancer research advocates, healthcare professionals who take care of people with cancer at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.

Over 12 million people in the US have been diagnosed with cancer and are alive, over 1 million with colon or rectal 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 »

I recently had a chance to attend the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s Fight Back Express Bus tour when it pulled into Maine’s state capital. I was excited, since things like this rarely happen in my area and with it only being 20 minutes away, I had to go.  I couldn’t miss the opportunity to help spread the word about colorectal cancer and talk about Cover Your Butt.

The Maine Attorney General spoke as well as aides for both of our Senators and our Congressman.  A local oncologist was also there supporting the effort.

Read the rest of this entry »