More evidence is emerging that right-sided colon cancers are different in significant ways from those on the left side.

Information from 17,641 colon cancer patients in the German Colon/Rectum Cancer Study Group found that people with cancers on the right side of the colon were older, had more chronic illness, and were more likely to be women.  There were significantly more deaths in this group. Read the rest of this entry »

For stage II and III colon cancer, a tumor mutation in the KRAS gene does not impact either relapse-free survival or overall survival.

BRAF mutations, which are less common, don’t help with prognosis for relapse-free survival, but do provide information about overall survival in some tumors.   Patients with BRAF mutations and microsatellite-low or stable tumors had poorer overall survival than those without mutations. Read the rest of this entry »

Using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines (NSAIDS) before being diagnosed with colorectal cancer reduced women’s deaths both from any cause and from colorectal cancer five years later.

Women followed as part of the California Teachers Study who used NSAIDS regularly had more than 40 percent reduction in colorectal cancer deaths and a 30 percent  reduced chance of dying overall. Read the rest of this entry »

Two gene changes that occur in some colorectal cancers can forecast chances for good or poor survival.

Patients whose cancers had high microsatellite instability (MSI) had significantly better outcomes at every stage, but mutations in the KRAS gene predicted poorer survival. Read the rest of this entry »

Patients with very early stage colon cancer benefit as much from regular followup testing after surgery as later stage patients do.

While overall patients with stage I or IIA colon cancer (early stage) have a lower risk of cancer returning than patients with stage IIB or III (later stage), careful surveillance after surgery is as effective in finding and treating cancer in both groups.

About one in three patients in both the early and late stage who had a recurrence detected during surveillance were able to have surgery with the goal of curing their cancer.   Read the rest of this entry »