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 »

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) outlined his priorities for health care reform at a community forum last week in Ohio.

Senator Brown, who has been a long time supporter for reforming the American health care system said, “We need health reform to ensure that every American has access to high quality, affordable health coverage…As it stands, 46 million Americans are uninsured, and that is 46 million too many.” Read the rest of this entry »

Focus on Clinical Trials

Can adding Avastin® (bevacizumab) to FOLFOX therapy after surgery and presurgical chemoradiotherapy reduce recurrence and improve survival for patients with rectal cancer?

A clinical trial to answer this question is underway and is looking for participants.  Led by a team of researchers from several clinical trials cooperative groups, the E5204 study randomly assigns patients who have already completed a course of chemoradiotherapy and had their rectal cancer removed surgically to either FOLFOX or FOLFOX plus Avastin. Read the rest of this entry »

Last Thursday we saw a 32 year old female with metastatic rectal cancer who had received all the best therapies so far but her oncologist was running out of treatment options.

The patient was not ready to give up and was looking for other options from clinical trials. She contacted our center to get more information on a number of clinical trials. We met with her and her parents to discuss potential treatment possibilities for her. Read the rest of this entry »