Patients who received chemotherapy after surgery to remove colorectal cancer that had spread to their liver or lungs had better long-term outcomes than those who only had surgery, according to an analysis that pooled two similar studies.

Two different clinical trials studied chemotherapy after surgical removal of liver or lung metastases due to colorectal cancer.  While neither trial was large enough to draw clear conclusions on its own, researchers combined information from both to decide if chemo made a difference for patients. Read the rest of this entry »

Were you diagnosed with colon cancer within the past three months?  Have you had your surgery and seen a medical oncologist?

Dr. Neil Love and Research to Practice want to talk to you about your chemotherapy decision-making. Read the rest of this entry »

Colorectal cancer patients with a KRAS mutation in their tumors benefit when Avastin® (bevacizumab) is added to chemotherapy, as do patients with no mutation or wild-type KRAS.

Both the time until cancer got worse (progression-free survival) and time patients lived after beginning treatment (survival) were better when Avastin was added to chemotherapy regardless of tumor KRAS mutation.  Avastin did not improve overall response rates in the patients with KRAS mutations.

However, overall prognosis is worse for patients with KRAS mutations than those with wild-type KRAS with either chemotherapy alone or chemotherapy with Avastin.  As a group, they tend to live for a shorter time and have their tumors progress more quickly.

Results of an analysis of 280 tumor samples from an earlier Phase III trial comparing chemotherapy with Camptosar® (irinotecan), 5FU, and leucovorin to the same chemotherapy plus Avastin were presented at the World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona in June, 2008. Read the rest of this entry »