Do cholesterol-lowering drugs help prevent CRC?

You might be able to help answer that question. A national research project needs people who have been treated for early-stage (stage I or II) colorectal cancer in the past year.

There have been tantalizing hints that cholesterol-lowering drugs (statins) might help prevent the growth of precancerous (adenomatous) polyps and/or recurrent colorectal cancer. Millions of Americans already take these statins to protect against heart attacks. We also know that people who have had early-stage colorectal cancer have up to a 50% chance of developing new polyps within 3 years.

Some studies have shown that people who had taken statins had lower rates of colorectal cancer (CRC), but other studies did not. And all of those studies were fairly short-term, looking for heart events rather than slower-developing cancers. So the jury is still out.

In 2010, the first national study was launched designed specifically to see if cholesterol-lowering statins could prevent colorectal cancer. But researchers still need more participants from all over the US, especially those at relatively high risk of developing cancerous polyps. Read the rest of this entry »

In the month of March we celebrate Colon Cancer Awareness.

Colon cancer is one of the few cancers we can prevent successfully with colonoscopy, better than breast cancer or any other cancer with the exception of cervical cancer.

It takes usually about 5-10 years to develop colon cancer, which gives us a great window of opportunity to screen. We know that usually we see polyps first, which can develop into cancer, but that normally takes years. With screening we can see polyps and remove them before they develop into cancer. Read the rest of this entry »

Recent studies from Swedish investigators suggest that blueberries may prevent colon cancer development. They suggest that blueberries should be eaten with probiotic yoghurt to further improve the benefit. Read the rest of this entry »

Recent data suggest that a compound in coffee has been found to possibly protect against colon cancer.

We have known for a long time that estrogen can protect against colon cancer and that women who take hormone replacement can also prevent polyps and cancer development. We also have recently seen that women do better than men when younger than 45 years old. Read the rest of this entry »

Dr. Lenz

I wanted to come up with some recommendations on diet over this Thanksgiving holiday. Searching the web and looking for advice to give you,  I came across a wonderful website  — TOP TEN FOOD tips by the National Foundation for Cancer Research — I wanted to share with you.

Here’s what they said. Read the rest of this entry »