By Curt Pesman

Low-carb (and lower sugar) diets may soon look a lot better to colorectal cancer survivors. In a recent data-rich study of more than 1000 stage III colon cancer survivors, researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute found that those who consistently ate a high-carbohydrate, sugar-laden diet appeared to have markedly higher recurrence rates of their disease than patients whose diets were more varied and contained less-sugar. The results were published in the Nov. 7 Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The main finding after surveying and following 1,011 patients during and 6 months after chemotherapy? That those who reported having the highest dietary levels of carbohydrate intake (and related glycemic load) also had an 80 percent increased risk of colon cancer recurrence or death compared with those who had the lowest carb diets.

 But because cancer patients (and health-minded others) are advised not to make a nutritional or lifestyle change based on just one research study or peer-reviewed journal article, it’s worth noting that in the Feb. 7^th issue of Nature, doctors from the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF) argued that sugar effects are so detrimental that the substance should be regulated like alcohol and tobacco to protect consumers’ health.  Read the rest of this entry »

In last night’s monthly webinar, colorectal cancer patients were given access to a nutritionist who specializes in helping cancer patients. Kimberly Moore Petersen of the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation was the presenter for our March 2012 webinar, “Shape Your Plate to Fight Colorectal Cancer.”

Extensive research has shown that diet and physical activity can significantly reduce your risk of tumor recurrence. Recently, the American Cancer Society issued new Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention.

But what does that mean for patients making day to day lifestyle choices? Find out in this webinar.

Most patients with stage II colon cancer will be fine after surgery, with little risk that their cancer will come back.

But one in five will have cancer spread beyond their colon.

Better information about which patients will relapse could spare many from the risks of chemotherapy.

A new gene test announced at the 2011 Gastrointestinal Cancer Symposium in San Francisco helps provide answers to which patients are at highest risk and could help patients and their doctors make better decisions about follow-up chemotherapy after surgery.

ColoPrint, an 18 gene tumor tissue signature, found that three out of four patients with stage II colon cancer had only about a 5 percent risk of recurrence, very similar to stage I patients.  For the remaining high risk patients, one in five (20 percent) had cancer return.

Read the rest of this entry »

Taking a daily multivitamin didn’t improve survival or reduce the risk that colon cancer would come back for stage III patients enrolled in a clinical trial of chemotherapy after surgery.

Although about half of patients in the trial took a multivitamin supplement during their treatment, the vitamin didn’t improve their outcomes, nor did it reduce side effects.  At the same time, multivitamin use didn’t have a detrimental effect. Read the rest of this entry »

How likely is it that an individual colon cancer will return?

Stage II colon cancer patients have a tough time knowing how likely it is that their cancer will recur and making a decision about having chemotherapy after surgery.

A test is now on the market that can help with that decision.  OncoType DX® Colon Assay analyzes 12 key genes from a tumor sample to produce a recurrence score that indicates how likely stage II colon cancer will return.

While OncoType DX Colon can’t predict whether chemotherapy will reduce the chance that cancer will come back, it can help patients and their doctors decide on chemotherapy in combination with other factors.

Read the rest of this entry »