Medical News Today: Colorectal Cancer News

The internet is awash with stories of how silver can be used to treat cancer. Now, lab tests have shown that it is as effective as the leading chemotherapy drug - and may have fewer side-effects...

The drug oxaliplatin is a major reason the prognosis for metastatic colon cancer has gone from an expected survival of several months to a couple years. Unfortunately, the drug can also carry with it debilitating neurological side effects, which generally start as the sensation of pins and needles in fingers and toes and can leave patients unable to walk or dress independently...

Could the use of vitamin and mineral supplements in a regular diet help to reduce the risk of colon cancer and protect against carcinogens? A study published in the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology (CJPP) found that rats given regular multivitamin and mineral supplements showed a significantly lower risk of developing colon cancer when they were exposed to carcinogens...

Genome Research publishes online and in print a special issue entitled, "Cancer Genomics," highlighting insights gained form cutting-edge genomic and epigenomic analyses of cancer...

Repeated screening by flexible sigmoidoscopy (FSG) increased the detection of colorectal cancer or advanced adenoma in women by one-fourth and in men by one-third, according to a study published Jan. 31 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute...

A study based on more than 87,000 women and 47,000 men in the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, looks at whether there is a link between colon cancer and alcohol, and if so at what level of consumption, and the importance of a family history of the disease. A total of 1,801 cases of colon cancer were diagnosed during follow-up from 1980 onwards...

Cancer is one of the most common causes of death in humans. The conventional cancer therapies include surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and targeting therapies, which are intended to directly destroy and eliminate tumor cells. These treatments often fail, resulting in tumor metastasis and recurrence. Therefore, there is a critical need for novel cancer therapies...

Researchers at CIC Biogune, the Cooperative Centre for Research into Biosciences and led by Dr. Maria Luz Martinez Chantar, have found a strong relationship between high levels of Hu antigen R (HuR) protein and the malignancy of Hepatocellular Carcinoma, through a novel molecular process in the investigation of this pathology and known as neddylation...

Not only are relatively few Americans screened for cancer, but there are considerable disparities between ethnic and racial groups in the country, says a new report issued by NCI (National Cancer Institute) and the CDCF (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). The authors added that screening rates are especially low among Hispanic and Asian Americans...

A new study on living animals has shown for the first time that eating cocoa (the raw material in chocolate) can help to prevent intestinal complaints linked to oxidative stress, including colon carcinogenesis onset caused by chemical substances...

An investigation published Jan. 20 in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute reveals that individuals in the general population with stage III colon cancer showed improved survival rates when they were administered with 5-fluorouracil (5FU), a commonly used cancer treatment, in combination with oxaliplatin. Colon cancer is one of the leading causes for illness and death worldwide...

Could preventing colon cancer be as simple as developing a taste for yerba mate tea? In a recent University of Illinois study, scientists showed that human colon cancer cells die when they are exposed to the approximate number of bioactive compounds present in one cup of this brew, which has long been consumed in South America for its medicinal properties...

Researchers in the Netherlands assessed the quality of colonoscopy reporting in daily clinical practice and evaluated the quality of colonoscopy performance. They found that colonoscopy reporting varied significantly in clinical practice. Colonoscopy performance met the suggested standards, however, considerable variability between endoscopy departments was found...

According to a study published January 23 online in Cancer, many smokers do not drop the habit after being diagnosed with colorectal or lung cancer. The study by Elyse R. Ph.D., M.P.H.and her team at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston involved 3,063 patients with colorectal cancer and 2,456 with lung cancer. The patients were seen at the time of diagnosis, and also five months later...

A new analysis has found that a substantial number of lung and colorectal cancer patients continue to smoke after being diagnosed. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study provides valuable information on which cancer patients might need help to quit smoking...

In 2011, about 101,340 Americans have been diagnosed with colon cancer, a leading worldwide cause of both illness and death, with around one third of cancers being diagnosed as stage III, or node-positive disease...

Stage III colon cancer patients in the general population who receive adjuvant treatment for the disease have an improved rate of survival when oxaliplatin is added to 5-fluorouracil (5FU), according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Colon cancer is a leading global cause of both illness and death; with an estimated 101,340 cases among Americans in 2011...

Doctors and researchers of Hospital del Mar and its research institute, the IMIM, have lead a study describing a new pharmacological resistance to cancer. This new mechanism is a mutation in an oncogene called EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) causing resistance to treatment using a drug called cetuximab, a monoclonal antibody which specifically attacks the EGFR...

Luteolin is a flavonoid commonly found in fruit and vegetables. This compound has been shown in laboratory conditions to have anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anti-cancer properties but results from epidemiological studies have been less certain...

Chronic inflammation combines with DNA methylation, a process that shuts down cancer-fighting genes, to promote development of colorectal cancer, scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report today in the advance online publication of the journal Nature Medicine...