Study finds aspirin protects against colon cancer

BERLIN, 21 sept 2009– A daily dose of aspirin can prevent cancer in people with a genetic disorder

that increases their risk of developing the disease, scientists said on Monday.

The finding could also have important implications for the wider population, although more research is needed and unraveling the connection will take some time since the benefits of aspirin were only seen after several years.

John Burn of the Institute of Human Genetics at Newcastle University in Britain said his study might also have uncovered a simple way of controlling stems cells that make tumors grow.

"We believe that aspirin may have an effect on the survival of aberrant (faulty) stem cells in the colon," Burn said, presenting his findings at the ECCO-ESMO European cancer congress in Berlin.

Burn and colleagues tested 1,071 people with Lynch syndrome -- an inherited condition that predisposes a person to a range of cancers, particularly of the colon -- by giving some of them aspirin and some a placebo.

Follow-up tests after 10 years showed that although there was no difference in cancer rates after 29 months, a significant difference was detected after four years, with fewer people in the aspirin group developing colon cancer, Burn said.

"To date, there have been only six colon cancers in the aspirin group as opposed to 16 who took placebo," he added. "There is also a reduction in endometrial cancer."

People with Lynch syndrome have an increased risk of many cancers including stomach, colon, brain, skin, and prostate. Women carriers also have a high risk of developing endometrial and ovarian cancers.

Burn said that although people in the trial stopped taking aspirin, its effect clearly continued.

Colorectal is the second biggest cause of cancer death in the United States and Europe, where a total of 560,000 people develop the disease each year, and 250,000 die from it.

Aspirin, originally developed by Bayer, is a cheap over-the-counter drug which in low daily doses has been found to stave off the risk of heart attacks and strokes, as well as chase away occasional aches and pains.

Other scientists have previously found it can reduce the risk of developing colon cancer and suggested it does so by blocking the enzyme cyclooxygenase2, or COX-2, which promotes inflammation and cell division and is found in high levels in tumors.

But Burn said he thought this explanation was unlikely, and thinks that aspirin hits faulty stem cells before they mutate into pre-cancerous cells.

"If aspirin reduced the chances of such cells surviving, this would explain our results," he said.

Despite its benefits, aspirin is also well known for causing stomach upsets. In the study, 11 patients on aspirin had stomach bleeds or ulcers compared with nine on placebo.

The team plans a further study using a larger group of patients taking differing aspirin doses.

Colorectal Cancer Racial Gap Still Growing

16 dec 2008 -- Despite major progress reducing overall colorectal cancer incidence and death rates in the United States, black men and women are still 45 percent more likely than whites to die of the disease.

That finding was contained in a report released Monday by the American Cancer Society.

The Colorectal Cancer Facts & Figures 2008-2010 report -- the second edition of a report first issued in 2005 found that colorectal cancer incidence and deaths continue to decrease among both blacks and whites, but rates remain higher and declines have been slower among blacks. In fact, the gap between blacks and whites has actually increased over the past few years, the report said.

For example, the previous report found the colorectal cancer incidence rate was 63.1 per 100,000 among white men and 72.9 per 100,000 among black men, a difference of 9.8. The new report said the incidence rate is now 58.9 per 100,000 among white men and 71.2 per 100,000 among black men, a difference of 12.3.

However, the report also found many signs of overall progress. Since the last report was released, 10 more states have enacted legislation ensuring coverage for the full range of colorectal cancer screening tests, bringing the total to 26 states plus Washington, D.C.

Among other advances: the proportion of colorectal cancers diagnosed at a localized stage has increased among most racial and ethnic groups; and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new targeted monocolonal antibody therapy (panitumumab) to treat metastatic colorectal cancer, the report said.

"We've made remarkable progress in reducing death and suffering from colorectal cancer," Elizabeth T.H. Fontham, of Louisiana State University and national volunteer president of the American Cancer Society, said in a new release. "Tests we have right now allow doctors to detect this killer at its earliest, most treatable stage, or even prevent it altogether. But as this report shows, there's more work to be done to ensure all Americans have access to these lifesaving tests, and that those who do have access to the tests use them."

In 2008, an estimated 148,800 people in the United States will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer and about 49,000 will die of the disease, which is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the third leading cause of cancer death in the country, according to the American Cancer Society.

Many of those cancers and deaths could be prevented through more widespread use of cancer prevention methods and by increasing access to screening tests.

More older Americans screened for colon cancer

30 sept 2008--There has been a substantial increase in the number of colorectal cancer screening tests conducted in older Americans, a new study shows.
"Most cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed in older adults," Dr. Mary C. White, of the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues note in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society. "Two thirds of new cases of colorectal cancer involve people aged 65 or older and one quarter of diagnoses are made in those aged 80 and older."
They point out that "as the number of older Americans continues to increase, greater attention is being paid to cancer screening in this population."
The researchers reviewed responses from roughly 6,000 participants in the 2000 National Health Interview Survey and a similar number in the 2005 version. All of the subjects were at least 65 years old.
The questionnaire included self-reports of colorectal cancer screening by colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, or home fecal occult blood tests.
The proportion of respondents reporting up-to-date colorectal cancer testing increased significantly from 39.5 percent in 2000 to 47.1 percent in 2005.
People who had a family history of the disease and those who had some higher education made greatest use of colorectal cancer testing. The lowest use was by those who reported that they did not visit a particular physician office for usual preventive care, those with uncertain family history of the disease, and those without health insurance.
A lower proportion of women than men were screened for colorectal cancer across all age groups, and the proportion screened declined with older age.
"Since 2001, Medicare has provided reimbursement for use of colonoscopy as a screening tool at 10-year intervals," the investigators point out. "It appears that the change in Medicare coverage for screening colonoscopy was associated with an increase in colorectal cancer testing in older adults."
SOURCE: Journal of the American Geriatric Society, August 2008.

Many colon cancer patients skip follow-up care

By Anthony J. Brown
12 sept 2008--The results of new research indicate that many older patients who survive colorectal cancer do not attend the guideline-recommended follow-up office visits or undergo carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) testing and colonoscopy.
"The current study is the first known national, population-based study in the U.S. to examine actual adherence to published comprehensive guidelines. The study included patients cared for in diverse practice settings and by different specialists," lead author Dr. Gregory S. Cooper told Reuters Health.
"The biggest finding was the low rate of guideline adherence, with approximately 60 percent receiving less than the recommended care and, in contrast, 20 percent received care in excess of guidelines," according to Cooper, a gastroenterologist with University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio. "All patients were insured under Medicare, so lack of insurance cannot be a factor."
Using a linked tumor registry-claims database, the researchers identified 9,426 patients, 66 years of age or older, who were observed for 3 years following diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer in 2000 to 2001. The subjects were classified as receiving recommended follow-up if they had at least two office visits per year; at least two CEA tests per year in the first 2 years; and at least one colonoscopy performed within 3 years.
Overall, 60.2 percent of the patients received follow-up below recommended levels and 22.7 percent received excessive follow-up, according to the report in the journal Cancer. Thus, just 17.1 percent of patients received follow-up at the recommended frequency.
Guideline adherence ranged from 92.3 percent for office visits to 46.7 percent for CEA testing, while 73.6 percent of patients underwent recommended colonoscopy.
Although not recommended, abdominal/pelvic CT was performed in 47.7 percent of patients and PET scan was performed in 6.8 percent.
Adherence to follow-up guidelines was more likely in patients who were younger, white and had regional-stage malignancies and poorly differentiated tumors, the report indicates. The findings also indicate there was significant variation in guideline adherence by geographic location. This suggests that local practice patterns play a role in receipt of recommended follow-up, Dr. Cooper noted.
"Routine surveillance has been shown to improve survival after potentially curative treatment of colorectal cancer," Cooper said. "Assuming that the patient would benefit from early detection of recurrence, the use of these procedures should be encouraged. As some of these patients may be receiving their care from primary care physicians alone, primary providers should also be aware of guidelines."
SOURCE: Cancer, October 15, 2008.

Colon Cancer in Family Predicts Better Survival

04 jun 2008--People with a family history of colon cancer carry the emotional burden of knowing they have twice the risk of developing the disease themselves. But now, a new study may ease some of their anxiety. Patients with a family history of colon cancer are also more likely to survive the disease.
The surprising paradox, published in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association, may ultimately steer researchers toward new treatments and a better understanding of the disease.
An estimated 153,000 cases of colon and rectal cancer will be diagnosed in 2008, according to the American Cancer Society, and about 50,000 people will die from the disease. Studies of twins show that about 35 percent of colon cancers are inherited, and about 11 percent of patients have at least two close relatives with the disease. An individual who has a first-degree relative with colorectal cancer faces about a 1 in 10 chance of being diagnosed with colon cancer, compared to 1 in 20 for those with no family history.
The latest study, conducted by researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, followed 1,087 patients being treated for Stage III colon cancer, which means the cancer had spread to nearby lymph nodes but not to other organs. Of those patients, 195, or about 18 percent, had a parent or sibling with the disease. Those who had at least one close family member with colon cancer were 25 percent less likely to die from the disease during the 5.6 years of patient follow-up than those with no close relatives with colon cancer.
The risk of dying was even lower for those with two or more relatives with the disease. Those patients had a 51 percent lower risk for cancer recurrence or death.
“This news may be reassuring to people with a family history, but our hope is that we can discover what underlies this effect of family history in biological terms,” said the study’s first author, Dr. Jennifer Chan, from Dana-Farber’s Center for Gastrointestinal Oncology.
Why a person has a better prognosis if they have a family history of colon cancer isn’t clear. The scientists ruled out several explanations for the difference, including the possibility that people with a family risk for colon cancer have adopted healthier lifestyles or take part in additional screening. Dr. Chan said the researchers looked at important lifestyle factors like diet, exercise and smoking and found no association with improved survival. And because all the patients had stage III cancers, more frequent screening and an earlier diagnosis also couldn’t explain the difference.
However, there is other evidence that genetic factors play an important role in colon cancer prognosis. It’s known, for example, that colon cancer that develops as a result of a rare inherited condition called Lynch syndrome — also called hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer — is less aggressive than the cancers found in patients with no genetic risk.
The study was paid for with grants from the National Cancer Institute and Pharmacia & Upjohn Co., now Pfizer Oncology.

Newer Chemo Regimens Prolong Survival in Advanced Colorectal Cancer

IOANNINA, Greece, Sept. 24 -- Today's newer chemotherapy drugs add months to the lives of patients with advanced colorectal cancer, but at a high cost in toxicity and complications, a meta-analysis showed.
For patients expected to live for a year when treated with fluorouracil and leucovorin (Welcovorin), the estimated absolute survival benefit of additional treatment with irinotecan (Camptosar) plus bevacizumab (Avastin) was an added eight months, John P.A. Ioannidis, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Ioannina here, and colleagues, reported online in the Sept. 20 issue of The Lancet Oncology.
Survival benefits of an added 4.7 months were also noted for the addition of oxaliplatin (Eloxatin) plus bevacizumab or for irinotecan plus oxaliplatin, the researchers said.
Newer chemotherapy drugs, such as irinotecan and oxaliplatin, and molecularly targeted agents such as bevacizumab and cetuzimab (Erbitux) have shown effectiveness in trials of patients with advanced colorectal cancer, but these drugs are highly toxic and the size of the benefits have not been measured, the researchers wrote.
For this purpose, the researchers systematically reviewed randomized trials comparing systemic treatment during the past 40 years. Treatment, both first-line and non-first-line was categorized by use of fluorouracil-based regimens, irinotecan, oxaliplatin, bevacizumab, and cetuximab.
Of 242 trials published from 1967 through 2007, including 56,677 patients and 137 different chemotherapy regimens, 37 of these trials were eligible for the meta-analysis.
Those trials provided 47 comparisons of mortality data for 13,875 patients and 48 comparisons of disease-progression data for 15,158 patients.
Compared with fluorouracil plus leucovorin alone, findings for the risk of death with the most commonly used regimens were:
Mortality risk decreased with the addition of irinotecan plus bevacizumab (hazard ratio [HR] 0.60, 95% credibility intervals (CrI) 0.44-0.84);
Considerable benefits were noted with the addition of irinotecan plus oxaliplatin (HR 0.72 [CrI 0.54-0.97]);
With oxaliplatin plus bevacizumab (HR 0.72 [CrI 0.57-0.90]);
With bevacizumab alone (HR 0.78 [CRI 0.60-1.03]);
With oxaliplatin alone (HR 0.87 [CrI 0.78-0.98]).
The disease progression benefits were even more prominent for the addition of:
irinotecan plus bevacizumab (HR 0.41 [0.28-0.60]);
irinotecan plus oxaliplatin (HR 0.53 [0.38-0.73]);
oxaliplatin plus bevacizumab (HR 0.46 [0.34-0.61]);
bevacizumab alone (HR 0.56 [0.41-0.76]);
irinotecan plus cetuximab (HR 0.62 [0.42-0.92]);
oxaliplatin alone (HR 0.64 [0.56-0.73]);
irinotecan alone (HR 0.73 [0.65-0.82]).
Reviewing absolute survival benefits, the researchers said that compared with a patient with an anticipated one-year survival when treated with fluorouracil and leucovorin, the absolute survival benefit was estimated at eight months' prolongation with the addition of irinotecan plus bevacizumab.
The survival benefit amounted to a 4.7 months' prolongation with the addition of oxaliplatin plus bevacizumab or irinotecan plus oxaliplatin.
For the addition of oxaliplatin alone, added survival was 1.8 months and for irinotecan alone, one month.
However, the researchers pointed out that they were not able to make direct comparisons of effectiveness between the different regimens, so that uncertainty remains for the ranking of specific regimens.
Generally, treatment effects seemed larger for disease progression than for survival, the researchers said, but added that many patients switch regimens when they progress and, therefore, survival differences are diluted. So, they said, some caution should be advised when progression-free survival is used as a surrogate marker of survival.
Furthermore, effectiveness should be balanced against tolerability. Multidrug combinations including irinotecan, oxaliplatin, or bevacizumab can cause serious toxic effects, mainly severe hematological toxicity, diarrhea, thrombotic events, and neurosensory disorders.
The fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan, plus bevacizumab regimen, which was likely to be the best in improving survival, might be complicated with up to a 84.9% chance of grade 3 or grade 4 adverse events, including a 1.5% chance of gastrointestinal perforation, the researchers said.
The risk of hemorrhage can be explained by the mechanism of action of bevacizumab, and has been reported in trials in other cancers. Additional and longer follow-up data on toxicity in different settings and on the newest regimens should be collected, the researchers advised.
New drugs are currently being tested for patients with advanced colorectal cancer, the researchers wrote. Although the meta-analysis included considerable data on bevacizumab, fewer data on cetuximab were available. However, additional evidence will probably become available in the next few years, including data on the ideal duration of use.
Although molecular-targeted treatments have a continuously increasing range of applications for different cancers, trials with less impressive results might still be ongoing and the complete picture might be less favorable. Future trials designed to fill in important gaps in information would be useful, the researchers wrote.
Their analysis, they added, was based on published group data, rather than individual patient information, a study limitation. Nonetheless, the power to detect survival prolongation even with information on individual patients might still be limited in such a complex network of multiple treatments. Therefore strong inferences about the value of certain regimens should be avoided.
"Our meta-analysis concludes that progress has definitely been made in this area of research, but the existing uncertainties suggest that more data are needed especially for the newest regimens," Dr. Ioannidis said.
No financial conflicts were reported. Primary source: The Lancet OncologySource reference: Golfinopoulos V et al "Survival and disease-progression benefits with treatment regimens for advanced colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis" The Lancet Oncology 2007: doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(07)70281-

High-Fat Diets Linked to Stage III Colon Cancer Recurrence

BOSTON, Aug. 14 -- After curative surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer, patients who ate a high-fat diet were more likely to have a recurrence than those who ate a so-called prudent diet, found researchers here.Those with a higher recurrence risk ate more meat, fat, French fries, refined grains, and desserts. Jeffrey A. Meyerhardt, M.D., M.P.H., of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues, reported in the Aug. 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
By contrast, a "prudent diet," high in fruits, vegetables, poultry, and fish, had no effect on cancer recurrence or death.
The findings came from a prospective observational study of 1,009 patients with stage III disease enrolled in a randomized adjuvant chemotherapy trial from April 1999 through May 2001. The NCI-sponsored Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) trial compared with weekly fluorouracil and leucovorin with weekly irinotecan, fluorouracil, and leucovorin.
Previous epidemiological studies have indicated that dietary factors are associated with the risk of developing colon cancer, the researchers wrote. "However, the influence of diet and other lifestyle factors on the outcome of patients with established colon cancer is largely unknown," they added.
It is possible, they said, that after resection of stage III colon cancer, increasing intake of the high-fat and processed foods in the Western diet may facilitate a milieu that allows residual microscopic disease to proliferate and spread.
Also, they said, patients rated high for consumption of foods in the Western diet after diagnosis may have had a similar diet before diagnosis and consequently may have had more biologically aggressive tumors. Nonetheless, there was no significant association between dietary pattern and tumor-related characteristics, the researchers said.
Patients filled out a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire during and six months after adjuvant chemotherapy. Using factor analysis, the researchers identified two major dietary patterns, the fat-heavy Western diet and the prudent diet. Patients were then followed up for cancer recurrence or death.
During a median follow-up of 5.3 years for the overall cohort, 324 patients had a cancer recurrence, 223 died as a result, and 28 died without documented cancer recurrence.
Compared with patients in the lowest quintile of the Western pattern, those in the highest quintile had a more than three-fold higher risk of cancer recurrence or death (adjusted hazard ratio hazard ratio for disease-free survival, 3.25, 95% confidence interval 2.04-5.19; P for trend <0.001).
Patients in the highest quintile were also 2.9 times more likely to have a recurrence than those in the lowest quintile (adjusted HR, 2.85; CI, 1.75-4.63, P for trend <0.001).
Similarly, a significantly higher overall risk of death was observed compared with the lowest quintile (adjusted HR, 2.32; CI, 1.36-3.96, P for trend <0.001).
The reduction in disease-free survival with the Western diet was not significantly modified by sex, age, nodal stage, body mass index, physical activity level, baseline performance status, or treatment group.
No relationship was seen for recurrence-free survival (P for trend =0.84) or overall survival (P for trend =0.54) across various intakes of the prudent dietary pattern.
The adjusted hazard ratio comparing the highest and lowest quintiles of the prudent diet was 1.20 (CI, 0.83 -1.75) for disease-free survival (P for trend 0.78).
Similarly, no relationship was seen for recurrence-free or overall survival across the various intakes for those who ate a prudent diet.
Higher prudent diet scores were found for patients who were physically active, had a lower BMI six months after adjuvant therapy, and were less likely to be smokers.
Higher undesirable Western scores were seen among men, whites, and past or current smokers.
In contrast, other characteristics, particularly tumor types known to predict prognosis, did not vary significantly among the quintiles of either dietary pattern, the researchers reported.
The researchers pointed out that they could not completely exclude the possibility that a higher intake of the Western pattern may have reflected other predictors of poor prognosis.
Nevertheless no significant association between diet and predictors associated with cancer recurrence (extent of invasion into bowel wall, number of positive lymph nodes) was observed.
Because the study was observational, causality cannot and should not be drawn from these data, Dr. Meyerhardt wrote. Nonetheless, the data suggest that eating more red and processed meat, sweets and desserts, French fries, and refined grains increases the risk of recurrence and decreases survival.
"Further analyses are under way to better delineate specific nutrients or food groupings that may have the strongest association," the authors concluded.
Eric Jacobs, Ph.D., a senior epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society, called the study by Dr. Meyerhardt and colleagues well-designed and addressing "an important question that has not been studied so far."
He pointed out that diet and the risk of colon cancer studies have not been consistent, but there has been almost nothing about the risk of recurrence. "The effect of diet on recurrence may be biologically different from the original risk," he noted. "Other studies will have to attempt to duplicate the results and then see where it leads."
As to why the prudent diet showed no benefit beyond not stimulating recurrence is an important question, he added. "Stay tuned," Dr. Jacobs said. "It's a really important question and needs more research."
No financial disclosures were reported. Additional comments were provided by Walter Willett, M.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health, who served as an unpaid consultant for this study. Dr. Meyerhardt was supported in part by a K07 award from the National Cancer Institute. Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB), the randomized adjuvant chemotherapy trial used in this study, was supported in part by grants from the National Cancer Institute to the CALGB and to the CALGB Statistical Center, as well as support from Pharmacia & Upjohn Company, now Pfizer Oncology. Primary source: Journal of the American Medical AssociationSource reference: Meyerhardt JA, et al "Association of Dietary Pattern With Cancer Recurrence and Survival in Patients With Stage III Colon Cancer" JAMA 2007; 298:754-764.

Study Compares Colon Cancer Drug Regimens

Fri Jul 13, 7:02 PM ET
FRIDAY, July 13 (HealthDay News) -- For patients battling advanced colorectal cancer, beginning treatment with a single chemotherapy drug is gentler than starting out with a combination of medicines and just as effective, according to two studies in the July 14 issue of The Lancet medical journal.
The findings challenge current clinical practice that favors using combination therapy right from the start, the researchers say.
In the first study, a British team from the University of Leeds divided more than 2,100 patients with advanced colorectal cancer into three groups. The first group received single-drug treatment with fluorouracil for as long as it controlled their disease, followed by single-drug treatment with irinotecan. The second group received fluorouracil followed by combination treatment (fluorouracil plus irinotecan or oxaliplatin), while the third group received combination therapy from the outset.
Patients in the first group had the shortest survival times, while patients in the second and third groups had similar overall survival times. Single-treatment fluorouracil produced the least toxic effects. All three groups had similar quality of life scores.
The authors said their study "produced a surprising result which challenges accepted standard treatment approaches in advanced colorectal cancer therapy," and provides patients with "the knowledge that a decision to opt for staged treatment approach, starting with less toxic therapy and keeping active agents in reserve, entails minimal, if any, compromise in survival."
In the second study, researchers at University Nijmegen Medical Center in the Netherlands randomly assigned 820 advanced colorectal cancer patients to receive either sequential treatment with capecitabine, irinotecan and oxaliplatin; or combination treatment of capecitabine plus irinotecan followed by capecitabine plus oxaliplatin.
Both groups of patients had similar overall survival rates.
"Our results show that, for patients with advanced colorectal cancer, combination treatment with all effective cytotoxic drugs was no better than their sequential use," the study authors wrote. "Progression-free survival over all subsequent treatment lines was not significantly different between the study groups. Additionally, sequential treatment was associated with less toxicity during first-line treatment than was combination therapy."
The findings "indicate that sequential treatment remains a valid treatment option for these patients," the researchers concluded.
More information
The American Cancer Society has more about chemotherapy.

Berries belong to cancer-fighting superfoods: study

by Louise Daly1 hour, 38 minutes ago
An antioxidant found in blueberries and grapes may offer protection against colon cancer, according to a new study that suggests the humble berry should be added to the list of cancer-fighting superfoods.
In a small study on rats, the compound appeared to afford the animals a measure of protection against this type of malignancy.
All 18 rats were given a compound to induce colon cancer in a manner similar to human colon cancer development.
Nine of the rodents were then placed on a balanced diet, while the remainder was given the same diet with a supplement of the berry antioxidant pterostilbene.
At the end of eight weeks, the rats on pterostilbene had 57 percent fewer pre-cancerous lesions in their colon in comparison to the control group.

Scientists find gene that may regulate colon cancer

By Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Scientists have discovered a genetic mutation linked with colon cancer that may work like a spigot, controlling the number of precancerous growths that develop and determining a person's susceptibility to cancer.
They said the finding could point to new ways to diagnose, treat and possibly even prevent colon cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer death in the United States after lung cancer.
In a study appearing on Thursday in the journal Genome Research, cancer biologists at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia studied mice that carry a mutation in the Apc gene, a gene known to cause precancerous growths or polyps in mice.
Changes in the human version of the gene are known to start the process that leads to colon cancer. People who develop large numbers of polyps are significantly more likely to get colon cancer.
The researchers found that the mice that carried only one copy of the damaged or mutated gene had about 90 percent fewer polyps in the small intestine and colon.
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN2143237420070322?feedType=RSS

To avoid colon cancer, eat more fruit, study finds

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People who eat a diet high in fruit and low in meat reduce their risk of developing colon cancer, researchers reported on Wednesday.
Their study supports other research showing that meat can raise the risk of getting cancer, especially colon cancer, and offers details about what other factors in the diet might be important.
The team at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill interviewed 725 people who had just had colonoscopies about their diet, smoking and other habits.
Of these, 203 had learned they had adenomas, polyps that often turn into tumors and are removed during a colonoscopy.
Gregory Austin and colleagues analyzed the answers and found there were three groups -- people who ate a lot of fruit but little meat, people who ate a lot of vegetables and a moderate amount of meat, and people who simply ate a lot of meat.
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN2139516220070321?feedType=RSS

Colon cancer survival linked to number of lymph nodes examined

HOUSTON - An analysis of 17 studies from nine countries has found that the more lymph nodes that are removed and examined during surgical treatment of colon cancer, the better the outcome appears to be for patients. The study suggests that removal of the nodes takes away a reservoir for potentially lethal cancer, and that knowing how far a cancer has spread leads to tailored and more beneficial treatment, according to researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Investigators say the findings, reported in the March 21 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, encourage a dialogue amongst physicians regarding the number of lymph nodes removed by surgeons and evaluated by pathologists as a measure of the quality of care that colon cancer patients receive.
"Currently just over one-third of colon cancer patients in the United States are getting an adequate lymph node evaluation," says the study's lead author, George Chang, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Surgical Oncology at M. D. Anderson.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-03/uotm-ccs031607.php