Colon Cancer Symptoms

When was the last time you got screened for cancer? If you don’t remember, you’re not alone.

At least 10,000 people die each year because they haven’t been screened for colon or breast cancer, says a new report from the Centers for Disease Control.

The agency recommends colon cancer screening starting at age 50, earlier if there is a family history of the disease.

Women should get their first mammogram at age 35, and then another at 40, and then yearly after that, according to WebMD.

“More than a third of Americans who need to be screened haven’t been screened,” CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden told Reuters.

To put it another way, more than 22 million men and women have not had a potentially life-saving screening test for colorectal cancer and about 7 million women ages 50 to 74 have not had a recent mammogram, according to a CDC statement.

We may not getting be getting screened as often as we should, but overall we’re doing better than before – at least when it comes to colon cancer. Screening rates climbed from 52 percent of those who should get tested for colon cancer in 2002 to 63 percent in 2008, said the agency.

“Any screening is good and the overall increase is the main message there,” Frieden said.

New research is showing that living a life that brings mild stress because it is active, physically, mentally and socially can actually help to fight melanoma
and colon cancer. Living with low to mild stress, keeping positive, active and social can be the recipe needed to keep cancerous tumors from growing, showed studies in mice. So is stress all that bad? Researchers are saying no.

Matthew During, a researcher from The Ohio State University relayed that the kind of mild stress that helps fight melanoma and colon cancer is not the kind you feel when sitting in traffic or living a hectic work schedule. There is different kind of stress one feels when living a full, positive, busy and happy life. He stated, “A lot of people think stress is bad, but our data show the animals aren’t just happy. Antidepressants won’t give you the same effect. The goal isn’t to minimize stress, but to live a richer life, socially and physically. You want to be challenged. We’re really showing that you can’t look at a disease like cancer in isolation.”

An animal study led researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute which was published in the July 9th issue of journal Cell, showed that when mice were taken out of their cages and given limited play activities in enriched environments, which caused mild stress, they actually thrived and their cancerous tumors shrank in mass by 77 percent and by volume of 43 percent. Some of the mice were completely cured of their cancer after three weeks of living in this kind of environment compared to other mice that lived in cages and without stimuli. The main kinds of cancers studied were melanoma and colon cancer.

The stimuli for the mice living in the large open areas were toys, hiding places and running wheels. They also had the opportunity to interact with each other. During stated, “Animals’ interaction with the environment has a profound influence on the growth of cancer — more than we knew was possible.” The study was very clear in showing that living in an environment rich with physical, mental and social stimulation might by itself, be what stops the growth of cancer.

The bottom line that researchers reached was that cancer tumors
can stop growing and even shrink when living in an environment that stimulates the nervous-system pathway, called the hypothalamic-sympathoneural-adipocyte (HSA) axis by which the brain talks to fat tissue telling it to stop releasing a hormone, leptin, which when released into the bloodstream accelerates cancer growth.

Researchers and scientists are saying that their next step is to study human cancer growth and reduction for people who live with the mild stress caused from happy, busy and social lives. They have very high hopes that the findings of their mice studies will indeed translate to humans with cancer.

Most adults are getting recommended breast and colon (colorectal) cancer screenings. Screening for serious chronic disorders can allow your doctors to diagnose these diseases earlier when there has been less damage to organs, and this can preserve your quality of life. Yet more than 22 million adults have not had screening tests for colon cancer, and more than 7 million women have not had a recent mammogram to screen for breast cancer as recommended, according to reports in CDC Vital Signs.

Colon cancer is one of the most common cancers in the United States, diagnosed in more than 130,000 new patients each year. For most people, the lifetime risk for developing colon cancer is about six percent, but the risk is more pronounced for those with hereditary colon cancer syndrome.

According to the American Cancer Society, cancer screening should begin at age 50. Regular fecal testing or periodic (every 5 to 10 years) sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy is recommended. Colon cancer screening tests can find precancerous polyps so they can be removed before they turn into cancer, thus preventing the disease. Screening tests can also find colon cancer early, when treatment works best. But only about one-third of Americans are following these recommendations, either because they are uninsured, uninformed, or want to avoid the unpleasantness of the test itself.

CDC statistics show that aside from non-melanoma skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. Almost 200,000 women are diagnosed each year, with over 40,000 dying from the disease every year. Currently there is controversy over the intervals in which breast cancer screening should occur. Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society stated last December that, “breast cancer screening saves lives and women aged 40 and above should get a high quality mammogram and clinical breast exam on an annual basis.” However the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) advises that women wait until age 50 to begin mammography screening.

The best way to find breast cancer is by having a mammogram (an X-ray of the breasts). Mammograms can find breast cancer early, before it is big enough to feel or cause symptoms and when it is easier to treat. About one of five women between the ages of 50 and 74 has not had a mammogram in the past two years. This may be because their doctor didn’t tell them to get one, they don’t have insurance and can’t afford one, or they don’t think mammograms work.

Are you getting routine cancer checks? If not, make an appointment today with your doctor. Do not become a statistic.

While cancer remains a major public health problem in the United States, cancer death rates among both men and women are continuing to decline, according to the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) annual cancer statistics report, “Cancer Statistics, 2010,” published in the Society’s journal CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, and its companion piece Cancer Facts & Figures 2010. Researchers credit the steady decline mainly to falling smoking rates, improved cancer treatments, and earlier detection of cancer.

Cancer death rates fell 21.0% among men and 12.3% among women during 1991 to 2006, according to the report. That translates to about 767,000 cancer deaths that have been avoided since the early 1990s, ACS researchers estimate. The number of new cancer cases is also waning – cancer incidence decreased 1.3% per year among men from 2000 to 2006 and 0.5% per year from 1998 to 2006 among women.

“This report is yet more proof we are creating a world with more birthdays,” said John R. Seffrin, PhD, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society and its advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN).

“We will build on our progress in the fight against cancer through laws and policies that increase access to cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment services, and with a sustained federal investment in research designed to find breakthroughs in the prevention and treatment of the most deadly forms of cancer,” said Seffrin.
Where we are now

ACS researchers estimate that there will be 1,529,560 new cancer cases and 569,490 deaths from cancer in 2010. Prostate, lung, and colorectal cancers will account for just over half of all new cancer diagnoses among men; in women, breast, lung, and colorectal cancers will account for about half of new cancer cases. Together, these 4 cancers account for half of all cancer deaths among men and women.

Even so, the report shows that among men, decreases in deaths from lung, prostate, and colorectal cancer account for approximately 80% of the declining death rate, while decreases in deaths from breast and colorectal cancer made up approximately 60% of the total decrease among women. Those numbers suggest early detection – such as colonoscopy to catch colon cancer early and mammography to catch breast cancer early – and improved treatments are having an effect. Fewer men are smoking, which accounts for much of the lower death rate from lung cancer; the lung cancer death rate among women has stabilized, even though it is still the leading cause of cancer death among women.

But not everyone is benefitting equally. African-American men have a 14% higher cancer incidence rate and a 34% higher overall cancer death rate compared to white men, according to the report. African-American women are less likely than white women to get cancer, but when they do get it, they’re more likely to die from it.

While there has been much progress in understanding and combating cancer, there’s clearly much more work to be done.

Each year, ACS researchers include a special section in Cancer Facts & Figures highlighting an issue of cancer research or care. This year, the topic is prostate cancer – its causes, prevention, early detection, and treatment. Despite the wealth of research on prostate cancer, there is much debate and uncertainty about whether or not to screen for it and how best to treat the disease. This section provides current information for both clinicians and patients.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill.
Illinois health officials are working with Southern Illinois University to offer colon cancer screening tests to people in financial need and the uninsured.

The pilot project will offer blood tests and colonoscopies to residents of 17 central Illinois counties.

The Illinois Department of Public Health has awarded a $300,000 grant to SIU for the project. The university’s medical school and its Simmons Cancer Institute will be involved.

More details will be announced this summer.

The counties involved in the project will be Bond, Cass, Christian, DeWitt, Effingham, Fayette, Greene, Jersey, Logan, Macoupin, Mason, Menard, Montgomery, Morgan, Sangamon, Scott and Shelby.

In the 1950s, the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study revealed the link between smoking to lung cancer. Cancer Prevention Study-2, which started in the 1980s, tied the reduced risk of colon cancer to taking aspirin. Now, researchers are moving on to Cancer Prevention Study-3, and West Tennesseans will be part of the process.

This study is a great opportunity for people to participate in cancer research, said Stephanie Brown, the volunteer chairwoman for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life study.

“Subjects need to be between the ages of 30 and 65 and have never had a cancer diagnosis,” she said. “This study will look at cancer-free people. It is a 20- to 30-year commitment. They draw blood and take waist measurements to look at obesity and hormone levels.”

Men and women, young and old, of every shape and color, are participating. Researchers hope to enroll 500,000 people over the next few years, Brown said.

“They fill out a health survey after they enroll at Relay,” she said. “That’s sent to the study site. The study will reveal information about the participants who sent out the form asking about health chances, etc. They’ll see where a person falls, why a certain person has a history of breast cancer but you don’t.”

The goal of the study is to “better understand the lifestyle, behavioral, environmental and genetic factors that cause or prevent cancer and to ultimately eliminate cancer as a major health problem for this and future generations,” according to the American Cancer Society’s website.

“They’re looking at the cancer-free population to see if they can isolate something, but there’s nothing specific they’re looking for,” Brown said.

Every year, participants will fill out a survey to update information. The forms take an hour per year of a person’s time, Brown said.

“It’s an exciting opportunity,” she said. “Jackson was one out of four places in the state chosen by the national American Cancer Society to enroll participants.”

Robin Salonus has personal reasons for participating in this study. Her father died of esophageal cancer when he was 54 years old, she said. Salonus just celebrated her 54th birthday a few weeks ago and hopes to live to see 55.

“That’s been on my mind,” she said. “I have a personal stake in it because my father died of cancer. When I reached this birthday a few weeks ago, it was really on my mind.”

She’s also curious to see if her father’s cancer plays a factor in her risks for diagnosis.

“I’ll be very interested to find out — am I high risk or low risk?” she said. “I think (the study) is fascinating. I look forward to answering questions and seeing if I can help out.”

On Tuesday, her first health survey arrived in the mail, with questions relating to medications, family history and exposure to various cancer-related factors such as sun, cigarette smoke and chemicals. The form is available to fill out online and takes about 45 minutes, she said.

“I want to help other people and help myself,” she said. “I’m trying to make lifestyle changes. I know those kind of things can help.”

All research is funded through a grant, paid for by funds raised at events such as Relay for Life.

“The latest results are published in a newsletter that goes out every quarter for participants,” she said. “As they find results every year, they’ll share information about it.”

The ACS still looks at basic science and at what experts know and don’t know. All the genetic information from 500,000 cancer-free people from every state and Guam will provide a wide variety of information, she said.

The local chapter gathered study subjects for enrollment at the May 14 Relay for Life at the Jackson Fairgrounds.

Lab technicians drew blood while other volunteers measured applicants’ waists for the study. Jackson State nursing students volunteered during the enrollment at Relay to Life, Brown said.

About 120 people signed up for the study at Relay for Life, Brown said.

“Over the next 20 years, they’ll be asked more questions,” she said. “And as more things are revealed, that information will become more and more interesting.”

The next three to five years should bring some interesting information, Brown said.

“We’re real happy about it,” she said. “We look forward to seeing what’s revealed in the next few years.”

A new way to deliver cancer-fighting drugs using tiny particles made from lipids and chemotherapy drugs may have the power to knock out malignancies with a one-two punch. The strategy holds promise for patients with many different kinds of cancers.

“We believe these will provide us with a new stealth weapon against cancer. It’s exciting to think we may have a next-generation strategy that could be applied to many other malignancies, including blood cancers as well as solid tumors like breast, prostate and pancreatic cancer.”

In a collaboration between John Wayne Cancer Institute (JWCI), Penn State College of Medicine and the University of Connecticut, researchers are testing microscopic “nanoliposomes“ engineered to deliver therapeutic drugs that can both kill malignant cells and cripple the cancer’s ability to resist further attack.

For years, Myles C. Cabot, Ph.D., director of the Laboratory of Experimental Therapeutics at JWCI, has been studying ceramide, a waxy substance that occurs naturally in the body. Among its other biological roles, ceramide is part of a regulatory system that prevents cancer cells from growing and triggers cell death.

Dr. Cabot’s work centers on a soluble, short-chain version called C6-ceramide which enters cancer cells more easily than long-chain molecules. C6-ceramide has been shown to kill malignant cells, but eventually, the cells acquire the ability to chemically convert ceramide into an inactive form, allowing the cancer to start growing again.

This phenomenon, called chemotherapy resistance, occurs with many anticancer drugs, and is a major cause of treatment failure. Unfortunately, when a cancer returns, treatment is typically more complex and less effective, and patient outcomes are poorer. Combinations of chemotherapy drugs are often used to overcome this resistance.

Now, Dr. Cabot’s lab is testing nanoliposomes, particles with diameters measured in billionths of a meter, in a two-part anticancer system. With an exterior coat of C6-ceramide, each particle is like a tiny bubble that can encapsulate other drugs inside itself. The researchers will fill the bubbles with tamoxifen, a well-known anticancer drug that prevents the unwanted conversion of ceramide into its inactive form. As C6-ceramide is relatively soluble, it dissolves, releasing the tamoxifen. The combination should effectively increase ceramide’s residence time, allowing it to kill the cancer without being deactivated.

The world’s most-prescribed breast cancer agent, tamoxifen is also effective in fighting certain other cancers as well. Recent laboratory studies show that nanoformulations of C6-ceramide with tamoxifen effectively inhibit growth of colon and breast cancer cells and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML).

“We have already shown that C6-ceramide effectively retards growth of cancer cells,” Dr. Cabot asserted. “By combining ceramide with tamoxifen we’ve created a synergistic combination that we hope will effectively induce cell death in cancer models.”

The tamoxifen-filled C6-ceramide nanoliposomes are being tested in AML cells by Dr. Cabot’s group. The next phase of research will include preclinical studies by Mark Kester, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology at Penn State College of Medicine, and Director of the Penn State Center for NanoMedicine and Materials. Similarly, the nanoliposomes will be tested on colon cancer cells at JWCI, then in preclinical models by University of Connecticut researcher Daniel W. Rosenberg, Ph.D.

“These nanoliposomes deliver a one-two punch, killing cancer cells while they prevent chemotherapy resistance,” Dr. Cabot said. “We believe these will provide us with a new stealth weapon against cancer. It’s exciting to think we may have a next-generation strategy that could be applied to many other malignancies, including blood cancers as well as solid tumors like breast, prostate and pancreatic cancer.”

Dr. Cabot’s work has attracted interest from Federal health agencies: The current project was awarded a supplemental grant from the National Institute of General Medicine. Dr. Kester is the inventor of the C6-ceramide nanoliposome, which is being licensed through Penn State Research Foundation.

John Wayne Cancer Institute

Since 1981, the John Wayne name has been committed by the Wayne family to groundbreaking cancer research and education in memory of their father, who died of cancer. The John Wayne Cancer Institute has received worldwide acclaim for advances in melanoma (skin cancer), breast and colon cancer as well as for immune therapy of cancer. Other areas of research include prostate and liver cancer. With its unique ability to rapidly turn scientific breakthroughs into innovative approaches to treatment and early detection, the JWCI provides immediate hope to cancer patients around the globe.

About Saint John’s

Since its founding in 1942 by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, Saint John’s Health Center has been providing the patients and families of Santa Monica, West Los Angeles and ocean communities with breakthrough medicine and inspired healing. Saint John’s provides a spectrum of treatment and diagnostic services with distinguished areas of excellence in oncology, spine, neurosurgery, orthopedics, women’s health, cardiac and specialized programs such as the internationally acclaimed John Wayne Cancer Institute. For more information, visit www.newstjohns.org

An experimental colorectal cancer drug being developed by Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc (KERX.O) showed it improved overall survival and slowed cancer progression in patients with advanced colorectal cancer, according to a summary of final data from a mid-stage study.

Researchers said the drug KRX-0401, also known as perifosine, was well tolerated and showed “promising activity” over chemotherapy as a second or third-choice drug for patients with colorectal cancer that has spread.

The study was one of thousands of abstracts, or brief summaries, of studies released on Thursday ahead of presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) next month in Chicago.

The study looked at the safety and effectiveness of perifosine in combination with chemotherapy drug capecitabine in 38 patients with advanced colorectal cancer.

All of the patients had already failed to improve on one or two other treatments.

Of the 35 patients evaluated, 20 percent who got the perifosine combination responded to treatment, compared to 7 percent who got chemotherapy plus a dummy pill.

Patients in the treatment group lived 18 months, compared with 11 months among those who got chemotherapy plus a placebo.

The drug, being developed jointly with Canadian drugmaker Aeterna Zentaris (AEZ.TO), blocks the activation of Akt, a new pathway thought to be linked with cell death and survival.

High levels of activated Akt are seen frequently in many types of cancer, and are often a sign of poor prognosis.

Last month, U.S. regulators granted the drug fast-track approval, a designation that speeds the regulatory approval process. A late-stage study of the drug is expected to begin this quarter.

Colorectal cancer patients who continued treatment with Roche Holding AG’s Avastin even after their cancer worsened lived longer than those who went off the drug, according to an “observational analysis” released on Thursday.

Health

The findings came from follow-up of a trial involving more than 1,000 patients with advanced colorectal cancer who initially received Avastin in combination with chemotherapy.

The analysis showed that patients who continued an Avastin-based regimen after their cancer worsened had a 59 percent decrease in the risk of death compared to those who stopped therapy or switched to a regimen that did not include Avastin.

Median survival after the first disease progression was 16.3 months for patients who continued an Avastin regimen, 8.5 months for those who received a regimen without Avastin, and 5.2 months for those who stopped therapy altogether.

Adverse side effects associated with Avastin included gastrointestinal perforations (0.2 percent), arteriothromboembolic events (1.9 percent) and bleeding (3.7 percent).

Updated efficacy and safety data, including results for progression-free survival and overall survival, will be reported at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in early June.

Roche has just completed enrollment in a Phase III trial evaluating the continued use of an Avastin regimen, compared to chemotherapy alone, after progression following first-line use of Avastin plus chemotherapy.

Avastin, which is designed to block a tumor’s blood vessel supply, is not currently approved for use as such a “maintenance” therapy.

Sandra Horning, global head of clinical oncology development at Roche’s Genentech unit, said the observational findings support the idea that Avastin is effective in multiple lines of therapy.

“The hypothesis needs to be tested in a rigorous clinical trial,” she said.

Initial treatment with Avastin for colorectal cancer costs about $48,000, with annual costs capped at $56,000 by Roche.

A new study in the May 2010 issue of Journal of Epidemiology suggests that alcohol consumption boosts cancer mortality risk.

The study showed that heavy alcohol drinkers were at least four times more likely to die from cancer compared to those who did not drink.

Alcohol is a known risk factor for cancers of the mouth, esophagus, liver, colon and breast, according to the background information in the study report.

In the United States, the National Toxicology Program acknowledges that alcoholic beverages like beer, wine, and spirits are classified as human cancer causing agents or carcinogens.

In the current study, Yi S.W. and colleagues from Kwandong University College of Medicine in Gangneung, Korea examined the association between alcohol consumption and digestive cancer mortality in Korean men and women.

The researchers followed 6291 residents of Kangwha, aged 55 or older, from March 1985 through December 31, 2005 to gather information on alcohol consumption and cancer mortality.

The risks of dying from esophageal cancer and colon cancer were found to be 5.62 times and 4.59 times higher in heavy drinkers compared to those who abstained from drinking any alcohol, respectively.

Higher consumption of alcohol led to higher risk of death from colon cancer and bile duct cancer.

Among women, the risk of dying cancer was higher in alcohol drinkers than abstainers, but the difference was not statistically significant.

The researchers concluded drinking alcohol increases risk of death from esophageal cancer and colon cancer in men.