Colondar Models Erika and Cathy

When colorectal cancer spreads to other parts of the body, young people under 50 who get chemotherapy benefit as much as those who are older.

With drug combinations, there is no difference between those under 50 and those who are 50 and older in responding to chemotherapy, how long it takes before cancer gets worse, or in survival time. Read the rest of this entry »

A study from Memorial Sloan Kettering recently showed that patients who have stage IV disease, which means spread to other organs, don’t need to undergo surgery immediately. If the tumor does not cause problems such as obstruction or bleeding, patients appear to do better to start with chemotherapy right away without delay because of the surgery. Read the rest of this entry »

Patients with advanced colorectal cancer whose tumors have gotten smaller six weeks after starting treatment with Erbitux had a much longer time before their cancer got worse and almost twice the overall survival as patients whose tumors didn’t shrink.

Patients in the BOND study had already gotten worse on standard chemotherapy and were receiving either Erbitux® (cetuximab) alone or in combination with irinotecan.  CT scans  for about a third of them showed at least a 10 percent decrease in the size of their tumors six weeks into treatment. Read the rest of this entry »

When cancer has spread beyond the colon or rectum, the primary colorectal tumor can safely be left in place with only rare complications.

Surgeons at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York followed 233 patients who began chemotherapy without surgery to remove their primary colon or rectal tumor. Almost 90 percent never had a problem with their tumor that needed intervention with surgery, radiation, or a stent. Only 7 percent required emergency surgery. 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 »