Can drugs used to help lower cholesterol also keep colon cancer from returning? 

Researchers at the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) are seeking patients for a one-year clinical trial to determine if cholesterol-lowering drugs (statins) might help prevent the growth of precancerous (adenomatous) polyps and/or recurrent colorectal cancer.

The NSABP trial is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and has recently expanded to include patients with stage 0, I, II or III colon cancer at diagnosis. Patients can enter the study up to one year after their initial diagnosis.

In 2011, Fight Colorectal Cancer’s late Director of Research Communications Kate Murphy wrote about the trial and its efforts to study whether patients taking statins also saw a side benefit of colorectal cancer prevention.

In her post, Murphy noted that research studies of statins and colorectal cancer showed some conflict. Researchers looking at cell processes have found that statins block a protein that is important in cell growth. Blocking its action may prevent colon cancer from spreading or polyps from developing.

NSABP Protocol Chair Dr. Bruce Boman said that although “some retrospective observational studies suggest that statins prevent colorectal cancer, others do not.” Writing in the NCI Cancer Bulletin, Boman also said that longer term, prospective studies on tumor development were needed to determine the efficacy of statins.

Patients who are already on a statin drug to treat high cholesterol are not eligible for the study. For more information about the trial, patients can email Coloncancer.prevention@nsabp.org or call 1-855-NSABPCA  (1-855-672-2722).  The trial organizers have also posted a detailed video overview of the P-5 Colon Cancer Prevention study.

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 »

Are you finished with surgery or chemotherapy for early stage colon cancer?

Would you like a chance to see if a new experimental treatment can reduce your risk of

• A new polyp in your colon?
• Colon cancer spreading beyond your colon?
• A new colon cancer?

Researchers at the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) would like to talk to you about a clinical trial exploring whether a statin drug can reduce the risk of new polyps, colon cancer recurrence, or a new primary colon cancer.

In the P-5 clinical trial stage I and II colon cancer patients will be randomly assigned to take either rosuvastatin (Crestor®) or an inert placebo for five years. Read the rest of this entry »