Insurance makes a difference for people with rectal cancer.

Rectal cancer patients without insurance or covered by Medicaid are almost twice as likely to die within five years as those privately insured.

Not only are they diagnosed at a later stage, but fewer receive recommended treatments at every stage.

More than half of the difference between patients with private insurance and those without was due to differences in how early they were diagnosed and whether or not they got standard treatment. Read the rest of this entry »

In 2010, experts predict that 4,400 fewer Americans will be diagnosed with colon and rectal cancer than in 2009.

According to new American Cancer Society statistics for 2010, 142,570 people will hear the difficult words, “You have colorectal cancer”, down from 146,970 in 2009.

Still, 51,370 families will get painful news when loved ones die from colorectal cancer.

Continuing this year, African Americans are more likely to develop colorectal cancer than whites and other races, to die of it, and to have poorer survival at every stage of the disease. Read the rest of this entry »

African Americans get more colorectal cancer than whites and die more often.

Whether this is because of different biology or lack of access to high-quality medical care has long been debated.

In a new study, blacks had very similar rates of polyps found during a screening flexible sigmoidoscopy.  But they were less likely to get a recommended follow-up colonoscopy.

While about 1 in 4 people had polyps discovered during their sigmoidoscopy, nearly identical percentages for blacks and whites, blacks got colonoscopy follow-up about 12 percent less often than whites. Read the rest of this entry »

Briefly: African Americans are diagnosed with colorectal cancer at later stages and have surgery less often which contributes to their poorer survival.  Women have a greater risk of a missed or early colorectal cancer after a negative colonoscopy.

If you can’t have a loved one with you during a painful procedure, just looking at your partner’s picture may make it hurt less.

The American Society for Radiation Oncology has a new website for patients, and open enrollment for Medicare plan coverage begins on November 15 and extends through the end of the year. Read the rest of this entry »

Clinical features of colon tumors can predict survival, acupressure bands reduce nausea during radiation therapy, and there was no connection between the amount of fish a person ate and risk for colorectal cancer.  Although blacks have an increased risk for colon and breast cancer, hospitals matter.  All patients — white or black — did worse in hospitals that treated a majority of black patients.

Surgical robots are being developed with a light touch that can tell the difference between normal and tumor tissue. Read the rest of this entry »