Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh are testing a vaccine to recognize a protein in colon polyps and trigger the immune system to destroy them.
MUC1 is a protein found in precancerous colorectal polyps and in colon cancer. The experimental vaccine causes the body’s immune system to develop antibodies against MUC1, killing tissue that contains it and potentially preventing polyps from returning. Read the rest of this entry »
You may have heard the very exciting data about patients with breast cancer who carry BRCA mutations. These mutations indicate a genetic predisposition for breast cancer.
The function of BRCA is DNA repair, very similar to the genes associated with familial colorectal cancer known as Lynch syndrome or HNPCC (hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer) which are the DNA mismatch repair genes. Read the rest of this entry »
Pfizer announced yesterday, June 30, 2009, that they are discontinuing a phase III trial comparing FOLFIRI chemotherapy alone to FOLFIRI with added Sutent® (sunitinib).
Based on results so far, the independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) determined that a significant reduction in progression-free survival was not statistically possible. No new safety concerns were identified. Read the rest of this entry »
NSABP C-10 needs only six more patients to complete enrollment and prepare to answer the question: Is it safe and effective to leave a primary tumor without symptoms in the colon or rectum and proceed directly to chemotherapy in patients with colon cancer that has spread to distant organs where it cannot be surgically removed,
The trial has already enrolled 84 of the 90 patients with metastatic colon cancer needed.
All patients in the study will be treated with FOLFOX (oxaliplatin, leucovorin, and continuous infusion 5-FU) and Avastin® (bevacizumab) every two weeks for as long as their cancer doesn’t get worse and they are able to tolerate side effects. Read the rest of this entry »
Cancer patients with only a few tumors that have spread to other parts of their bodies (metastases) will be part of a clinical trial to test precisely focused, high-dose radiation treatment called helical tomotherapy.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center want to know if helical tomography, focused on metastatic tumors, can destroy them and keep them from returning in patients whose tumors cannot be removed surgically or who are not willing to have surgery.
The trial is being conducted by the National Cancer Institute on the NIH Clinical Center campus in Bethesda, MD. Read the rest of this entry »
