Colorectal Cancer: Its Causes And Symptoms

Colon Cancer Symtoms in Women - Colorectal cancer is a malignant tumor which arises in the inner lining of the colon or the rectum. This usually happens when there is an abnormal or uncontrolled growth of cells in the latter part of the digestive tract which is known as the colon. Pertinently, these malignant cells may also grow in the rectum, the very end of the large intestine that opens at the anus, which lead one to suffer this malignancy.

This cancer has numerous distinct names. It is commonly termed as colon cancer or large bowel cancer, or "CRC". This disease is contemplated as the fourth common form of cancer in the United States, and the third leading cause of cancer-related in the Western domain.

What causes colon cancer?

There are numerous causes for this type of disease as well as factors that place certain folks at increased risk for this sickness. Here are some known factors:

Age
It is not directly stated that age can cause rectal cancer. However, this malignancy usually strikes in those individuals who are forty years and above.

Genes
Most colon cancer occurs when there is family medical history related to this disease or polyps. For instance, whenever your father/mother/brother or sister has developed colorectal cancer or more than one family member has had this malignant tumor, the risk to other family of acquiring this cancer is high.

Environment
Study has shown that environment a play a huge part in rectal cancer enhancement. Everything around you may influence your risk of acquiring colon cancer.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
IBD is often characterized by conditions similar to ulcerative colitis and Chron's disease. When a person is experiencing such conditions; he or she might be at great risk of developing colon cancer.

Diet
Diet has found out to be a causal factor of colon cancer especially if your diet is high in fat and low in fiber.

Colorectal Cancer Symptoms

This type of cancer doesn't always present any symptoms in the early stages. Its symptoms occur when the disease has progressed into the later stages. Here are some of its symptoms:

Change in bowel habits including constipation or diarrheaBlood in the stoolAbdominal discomfort and tenderness in the lower abdomenWeakness or fatigueUnexplained weight lossIntestinal obstruction

Whenever you experience symptoms like blood in the stool or change in bowel habits, you must immediately see your doctor for appropriate medication.

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Assessing Your Risk for Colorectal Cancer

Colon Cancer Symptoms in Women - Screening and early detection saves lives. When colorectal cancer is diagnosed at the localized stage, the 5 year survival rate is 90% and of course, many people live much longer than 5 years (and many are cured). Unfortunately, only 39% of cases are diagnosed at this localized stage. If the cancer is not detected until late stage, the 5 year survival rates drops to less than 12%.

Furthermore, the disease can be prevented through the early identification and removal of pre-cancerous polyps, detectable only through colorectal cancer screenings.

All adults and,very rarely, some children and teens, are at risk for colon and rectal cancer.How serious that risk is depends on several factors including your age, family history, personal medical history, life style choices etc.

Ask yourself some important questions to find out your risk
Am I 50 years old with no other family or personal history that would increase my risk?Was my mother or father, sister or brother, or one of my children diagnosed with colorectal cancer or adenomatous polyps? How many family members? At what age were they diagnosed?Do I have inflammatory bowel disease? ulcerative colitis? Crohn's disease?Have I had adenomas (polyps) removed?Have I had colon or rectal cancer?Have I had endometrial cancer (cancer of the uterine lining)?Do I have diabetes?Am I overweight or a smoker?Do I drink heavily?Do I get regular exercise?What's my diet like?Do I eat large amounts of red or processed meats?Do I get several servings of fruit and vegetables every day?Do I get adequate calcium and vitamin D?Do I belong to a high-risk ethnic group? ( African-American, Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe?Levels of risk

Average Risk
Age 50 or over with no other personal or family risk factors

Increased risk
Previous colorectal cancer or adenomatous polypsFamily history of colorectal cancer or adenomatous polypsPersonal history of Ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease

High risk
Lynch syndrome (hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer or HNPCC)Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) or attenuated familial adenomatous polyposis (AFAP)

Lifestyle risks
ObesitySmokingHeavy alcohol useLack of exerciseDiets high in fat and red or processed meatFew fruits and vegetables

Patients at increased risk (a first-degree relative with colon cancer or advanced adenoma diagnosed at age <60 years, or two first-degree relatives diagnosed at any age) should be advised to have screening colonoscopy starting at age 40 years, or 10 years younger than the earliest diagnosis in their family, whichever comes first, and repeated every five years.

Individuals with some increased risk (first-degree relative with colorectal cancer or advanced adenoma diagnosed at age ?60 years) should be advised to be screened as average-risk persons beginning at age 50 years, using colonoscopy for screening.

For more information or if you have any questions go to by Dr. Jain's blog.

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Colorectal Cancer - Is It Terminal?

Colon Cancer Symptoms in Women - Colorectal cancer is a serious problem, no doubt but is it terminal? It can be but you can take precautions to mitigate the effect of this disease.

1) Colorectal cancer generally responds to chemotherapy treatment. There are people who fear the treatment more than they fear the disease. Chemotherapy can cause discomfort and can lead to problems like constipation. But medical science can provide relief from most of these side effects. There is no point in postponing chemotherapy till the time the patient mentally prepares for that. The patient should be made to realize that the choice before them are limited. Either go for chemotherapy bearing the physical discomfort or allow the cancer to aggravate. When presented with this reality, the patient is likely to quickly accept chemotherapy treatment.

2) Since in many cases, colorectal cancer begins as small benign polyps, going for a colonoscopy at the age of 50 will be very helpful. 50 is the age for an average risk person and a high risk person may opt for this screening even at the age of 30. The American Cancer Society advises that colonoscopy screening should be repeated every 10 years. Again this period is for a person with average risk. For a high risk individual, this screening has to be repeated every two years. The benefits from colonoscopy screening are very valuable in that physicians will be able to locate and remove polyps which can cause colorectal cancer. Needless to add, removing polyps is the key to preventing this type of cancer. Just as people are reluctant to go for chemotherapy, they also shun colonoscopy because it involves an invasive procedure. While this is not as simple as a blood test, this is quite a comfortable test and people will be medicated before undergoing this procedure.

3) It is also worthwhile to be well informed about the risk factors since people with a higher risk of contracting this disease need to take extra precautions, as outlined above. The risk can come from diet routine, genetic factors and medical history. People who consume a diet that is high in fat and calories and low in fiber have a high risk. Particularly, a diet high in red and processed meats can be a risk factor. In terms of racial factors, African Americans are found to have the highest risk for colorectal cancer. People with a personal history of having had colorectal cancer earlier or a history of adenomatous polyps have higher risk for this disease. People who have an inflamed lining of the colon, ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease are also at a higher risk. If you have blood relatives (parents or siblings) with colorectal cancer, it can be a factor contributing to high risk too.

Colorectal cancer is a serious problem no doubt but you can cope with it and improve your chances of survival through proper guidance and treatment.

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Colorectal Cancer - Chances of Survival

Colon Cancer Symptoms in Women - If someone is afflicted with colorectal cancer, their chances of survival will depend on several factors. One of them is the pathological history of the patient. If the patient has earlier suffered from adenomas, there will be an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer. This will be more so if the polyps are large in number and size. Even if the colorectal cancer that developed earlier was completely removed, the chances of new cancers developing in other areas of the colon and rectum are high.If the patient had the first colorectal cancer at a young age, the chances of this problem recurring will be high.

Another negative factor is a personal history of chronic inflammatory bowel disease also called IBD. If one had had IBD, then one should undergo a screening colonoscopy between eight and twelve years after the diagnosis.

The focus should be on avoiding risk factors and adopting protective measures. Awareness of the important facts about colorectal cancer is the first step. The problem starts with polyp formation. As polyps grow in size, there is a higher risk of their turning malignant. You can understand the significance of the size of polyps from the fact that while the chances of a very small polyp being cancerous is less than one in five hundred (0.2 percent), the figure for polyps of one centimeter size is about one in ten 10 percent). The chance increases with a polyp with a size of two centimeters having chances of becomng cancerous being as high as one in two (50 percent.)

Another risk factor is the history of a quite a few in the family having Colorectal cancer. This indicates a genetically acquired proneness for this disease. Statistics show that about 30 percent of the cases diagnosed are due to genetic factors. The risk is higher if a relative acquires this problem at an age below 60. Understandably the risk become higher if more than one person is associated with this type of cancer. A symptom known as hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer, or HNPCC also contributes to a high risk of colorectal cancer being developed. HNPCC is known to increase the risk for other types of cancer as well.

Diet also plays a role in causing this problem. People who consume diets rich in fats and calories but low in fiber are at increased risk of contracting this disease.

While a lot of innovative treatments and new drugs have been developed, counseling is also very important in helping people overcome their problems and increase their chances of survival.

Colorectal cancer is a serious problem no doubt but you can cope with it and improve your chances of survival through proper guidance and treatment.

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High HDL Cholesterol Can Reduce Colorectal Cancer Symptoms From Taking Hold

Colon Cancer Symptoms in Women -Important news on colorectal cancer symptoms. If you have high HDL cholesterol levels (good cholesterol), you might also have a reduced risk of colorectol cancer according to a new study.

If future work confirms this finding, those with low HDL (good) cholesterol levels should make changes to cut their chances of developing of colon cancer according to researchers.

Doctors know that lowering bad (LDL) and increasing the good (HDL) cholesterol lowers your risk of heart disease. This work gives you yet another reason to watch those numbers - staying free of dangerous colon cancer.

In this work, the experts compared 1,238 subjects with colorectal cancer to the same number of healthy controls. Of the participants who had cancer - just under 800 had colon cancer, with around 450 diagnosed with rectal cancer.

The team looked at blood samples and diet-lifestyle questionnaires filled out by the participants and found that subjects with elevated levels of HDL (good) cholesterol, along with another blood fat known as apolipoprotein A (apoA), had the lowest chance of developing cancer of the colon. There was no impact on rectal cancer rates.

For every 16.6 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) rise in good cholesterol, colon cancer risk was reduced by 22%, while a 32% increase in apoA brought the chances of colon cancer down by 18%. For a small number of participants followed for over two years, only the HDL levels were associated with a reduced risk of cancer of the colon.

This particular relationship is independent of other markers in blood that are tied to cancer. Things like inflammation, insulin resistance and free radicals. But is it the HDL cholesterol or some other biological factor that comes with good cholesterol that's responsible for the reduction in risk?

The reduced follow up period, only 3.6 years, is considered a limitation of the research, though the study has been well designed according to experts who had no part in the research, and is the largest ever of good cholesterol and risk of cancer of the colon.

Cancer of the colon starts in the large intestine (known medically as the colon) or at the end of the colon, the rectum. The American Cancer Society points out that colorectal cancer is a leading cause of cancer related deaths in the U.S.

Nearly all colon cancers start out as benign polyps that develop into cancer over time. The good news is that finding the cancer early, at the polyp stage when it's small and hasn't had chance to spread, is a key to a complete cure.

The team speculates that good cholesterol's anti-inflammatory properties might be the reason for the finding, but understand that more work is needed. If other studies bear out this finding, it may be that HDL levels become useful in assessing a patient's colon cancer risks.

If you're worried about your own risks of developing colorectal cancer symptoms, the best recommendations are to try and achieve high HDL cholesterol levels by stopping smoking, being more active on a regular basis, get your weight under control and limit your intake of both red/processed meats and alcohol.

FREE Bonus Secret Health Reports - For a limited time you can grab 5 FREE essential health reports from the Daily Health Bulletin. Click through now to discover more on how to spot and prevent colorectal cancer symptoms.

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Tips on Spotting Colorectal Symptoms

Colon Cancer Symptoms in Women - Spotting colorectal cancer symptoms early is vital to the prognosis of the condition. In cancer, getting early treatment is very important. If the cancer has been spotted on time, measures might be taken to eradicate the cancer cells from your body. During the first stages of cancer development, your doctor might opt for surgery. This way, they would be able to remove the cancer cells from the body without harming your normal ones. Late stages of cancer would require chemotherapy and radiation therapy. This type of treatment would not only kill your cancer cells but would also affect your normal cells.

The symptoms of colorectal cancer usually depend on the location and the size of the mass. However, most of them are pretty much the same. So, how do we spot the symptoms of colorectal cancer? Here are the most common manifestations of the condition:

• Changes in bowel movements. Different people manifest different signs. For some, their stools are looser than usual. For others, they frequently experience constipation. There are also some that have reported not being able to defecate at all. Not being able to defecate for several days is what usually prompts them to go see a doctor.

• Bleeding. Bleeding is almost always a common symptom of cancer. This could be due to a variety of reasons. One would be because the tumor has swelled to a certain size and has ruptured certain capillaries or veins, thus causing the bleeding. Another would be that the tumor itself has ruptured. Bleeding in cancer may not always be evident. There would be times that you would really be able to see fresh blood but, more often than not, the bleeding might go undetected. Black stools are great indicators of intestinal bleeding. The black color of the stools comes from the mixture or blood with fecal matter.

• Narrow stools. Some medical practitioners refer to this as ribbon-like stools. This could be caused by the narrowing of your colon or rectal passageway. This narrowing is caused by the tumor growth in your intestines. Your stool would not be able to pass through properly, thus the change in their appearance. So, when do you get alarmed? If you observe that your stools start looking like pencils, or you start to notice that your stools look more different than usual, consult your doctor immediately. Do not wait for your symptoms to worsen.

• The feeling of wanting to defecate again after just defecating could be caused by a growth in your bowels. The feeling is caused by the mass bumping into the opposite intestinal wall. Your bowels' messages to your brain would cause you to think that this is fecal matter, and you would try to push it out.

These four manifestations would be the most common symptoms felt by a patient that is suspected to have colorectal cancer. When you notice that you are exhibiting these symptoms, consult your doctor immediately. This way, he would be able to recommend some laboratory tests so that he could make an accurate colon cancer diagnosis.

For more information on Different Types of Diseases, Symptoms and Diagnoses, Please visit: Colorectal Cancer Symptoms and Colon Cancer Diagnosis.

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Vitamin D and Death Due to Colorectal Cancer

Colon Cancer Symptoms in Women - Based upon recent high quality clinical research, only Vitamin D, among all vitamins, appears to have potentially significant cancer prevention effects. However, as with all areas of clinical and laboratory research, one can find contradictory research results for Vitamin D, as well.

An innovative prospective clinical research study is now reporting its results, which appear to link Vitamin D deficiency to colorectal cancer death rates. As with previous research studies, the findings of this study strongly suggest that Vitamin D deficiency may be linked with a higher risk of death due to colorectal cancer. The findings of this clinical research study appear in the current issue of the journal Cancer.

An interesting and unique aspect of this particular clinical research study was its evaluation of the potential impact of Vitamin D deficiency on the well-known increased risk of death due to colorectal cancer that has been observed in African-Americans when compared to Caucasian patients. As our bodies create active Vitamin D from exposure of our skin to sunlight, and as people with darkly pigmented skin are more prone to developing Vitamin D deficiency, when compared to lightly-pigmented people, the authors of this study sought to assess the potential colorectal cancer risk impact of Vitamin D deficiency on patient volunteers with darkly pigmented skin.

In this large public health study, the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), which was conducted between 1988 and 1994, blood levels of Vitamin D were measured in study volunteers. Patients with a Vitamin D level of less than 20 ng/dL were considered to be deficient in Vitamin D.

As previous public health studies have also shown, the results of this study indicated that African-Americans are twice as likely to die of colorectal cancer when compared to Caucasians. When blood levels of Vitamin D were considered, specifically, the increased risk of dying from colorectal cancerobserved in African-American patients decreased by 40 percent among those African-Americans who had normal levels of Vitamin D in their blood. (These results, therefore, suggest that at least 40 percent of the increased risk of dying from colorectal cancer in African-American persons is likely to be caused by Vitamin D deficiency.) When patients of all races were considered in terms of Vitamin D deficiency as a risk factor for death due to colorectal cancer, patient volunteers with a blood level of Vitamin D less than 20 ng/dL were more than twice as likely (i.e., a 211 percent increase in risk)to die of colorectal cancerduring the course of this prospective research study, when compared with patients who had normal Vitamin D levels.

In summary, this large prospectively conducted public health study found, as have previous studies, a significant association between Vitamin D deficiency and the risk of dying from colorectal cancer. (Previous Vitamin D studies have also identified a 25 to 40 percent reduction in the incidence of colorectal cancer, and death due to colorectal cancer, in study volunteers with blood Vitamin D levels in the 30 to 40 ng/dL range.) While not all clinical research studies have shown this level of colorectal cancer risk reduction associated with normal blood levels of Vitamin D, this particular study joins a growing list of clinical studies that appear to show a significant reduction in colorectal cancer risk associated with adequate levels of Vitamin D in the blood.

As excessive Vitamin D intake can cause significant health problems (especially in patients with kidney disease and parathyroid gland disease), you should check with your doctor prior to considering the use of Vitamin D supplements.

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Colorectal Cancer Survival Rate

Colon Cancer Symptoms in Women - In the United States, the colorectal cancer survival rate is more agreeable amongst female patients than males. Whether the female patient is from Caucasian or African decent, the colorectal cancer survival rate is around 65%, a tad ten percent higher than their male counterparts whose rate of survival ranges from 53-55% only.

A 5 year colorectal cancer survival rate refers to the number or percentage of people who remain living 5 years after the disease was determined and treated. What most researchers do is go through all the records of cancer patients diagnosed with this type of cancer 5 years ago and count the ratio of those who are alive now to those who have been deceased as a result of the cancer.

According to the relative report released by emedtv for the research they conducted from the year 1996-2002, the colorectal cancer survival rate at:

• Stage 1 is around 90%. The main reason behind this is the same as the reason why most patients during this stage have good prognosis - the disease has not yet spread and is easily controlled by removing the affected part. In the case of cancer of the colon and rectum, the patient will undergo resection of the colon to remove the segment affected with the disease and reconnect the cut ends afterwards.

• Stage 2 and 3 is around 68%. Despite treatment, the rate is still pretty low because the disease has proliferated at this time. The basic fact about cancer is - the wider the spread, the more difficult to eradicate it. Common treatments at this stage are surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Although they may help in detaining or slowing the progression of the disease, it may still develop.

• Stage 4 is around 10%. Around 20 percent of all colorectal cancer patients are diagnosed at the last stage. This is a concern of many medical practitioners thus frequent campaigns to increase cancer awareness have become a mission of most cancer societies. Once the cancer cells metastasize, it may heavily affect the most vital organs in our body including the kidneys, liver and spinal cord.

Colorectal cancer sure is a killer disease. Like any types of cancer, it will affect the richest and the poorest and will disregard your position or status in society. Healthy living is what medical practitioners always advise to combat this disease. With colorectal cancer, change in the diet plan is imperative.

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Vaccine Against Colorectal Cancer

British scientists have developed a vaccine that stimulates colorectal cancer patients' immune systems to fight malignant cells.

In a clinical trial of 67 patients, scientists at the University of Nottingham found that when the vaccines were administered before and after surgery to remove malignant tumors, they helped stimulated immune cell production in up to 70 percent of patients. These results are reported in the November 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

"This is the first vaccine shown to stimulate TNF-alpha an immune-system protein that is very effective at killing cancer cells," said Lindy Durrant, senior author of the study and professor of cancer immunotherapy at the university.

The vaccine works by stimulating the patients' immune response to generate infection-fighting white blood cells called T cells, which in turn produce immune system proteins called cytokines that destroy cancer cells. The antibody contained in the vaccine, called 105AD7, was cloned from a patient who survived seven years with liver metastases from colorectal cancer, Durrant explained.

"This is very unusual as most patients die within one year of getting liver metastases," she said. "I thought if this antibody had helped this patient, if we could clone it, it might help others".

105AD7 is structurally similar to CD55, a protein that attaches to sugar molecules and is overexpressed in colorectal cancer cells, protecting them from attack by the body's immune system. While low levels of CD55 occur in all cells exposed to the immune system, increased expression of the protein has been observed in multiple types of tumors, including up to 80 percent of colorectal cancers.

During the trial -- the largest to date looking at 105AD7 plus surgery -- 67 patients with colorectal cancer who were scheduled for surgery to remove their primary tumor were randomly assigned to receive either 100 micrograms of 105AD7 with a powder to help absorb the vaccine, 105AD7 along with BCG (a bacteria used to stimulate the immune system in cancer patients) during the first immunization and the powder in subsequent vaccinations, or no therapy.

The patients, who had varying degrees of disease, averaged age 66. Twenty-eight patients had colon cancer while in 39 patients the primary tumor was located in the rectum.

Patients were immunized before surgery on the day they were recruited for the study, and again two weeks later if surgery had still not been performed. The vaccines were continued three, six and 12 weeks after surgery, and then at three monthly intervals up to a maximum of 24 months after surgery. Blood samples were collected from the patients during recruitment, at surgery, and at the time of the three-, six- and 12-week post-operative immunizations. Additional blood samples were acquired one month after each subsequent immunization.

Laboratory tests of the blood samples indicated that a T-cell response against the vaccine was recorded in the majority of patients. The responses tended to have two peaks: one following the start of the immunization schedule and another several months later, after additional immunizations. About 70 percent of patients produced both TNF-alpha and GM-CSF a protein that stimulates white blood cell production in response to both the vaccine and to CD55.

"The immune responses to both the vaccine and CD55 were measurable, adding support to the use of CD55 as a target in cancer therapy," Durrant said.

Nineteen of the patients died during the follow-up period. Durrant and his colleagues noted that the trial was not designed to study the effect of the vaccines on survival.

Posted by: Sue    Source

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Pharmacogenomics For Colorectal Cancer Treatment

University of Chicago scientists have licensed a genetic test that determines which patients are likely to have a serious adverse reaction to irinotecan hydrochloride (Camptosarandreg;), a key component of the standard first-line therapy for advanced cancers of the colon and rectum, to Mayo Clinic.

Until now, the UGT1A1 test has only been available to patients enrolled in studies at the University of Chicago. Third Wave had received FDA approval for its UGT1A1 test kit in August, but the test had still not been made available to patients.

Through this licensing agreement, Mayo Clinic's reference laboratory, Mayo Medical Laboratories (MML), will make the test available to patients nationwide, starting this month.

The UGT1A1 test was developed and patented by Mark J. Ratain, MD, the Leon O. Jacobson Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the Committee on Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics at the University of Chicago, and his colleagues. It gives doctors advance knowledge of an individual's risk for toxicity from irinotecan by revealing whether patients have one of two common versions of a gene that encodes for a protein involved in the metabolism of irinotecan.

"Eventhough most patients tolerate the drug quite well, some patients are genetically predisposed to severe side effects from irinotecan therapy," said Ratain. "The UGT1A1 test enables us to know in advance which patients are at risk. Those patients could be given reduced doses of irinotecan or other chemotherapy drugs".

This kind of customized dosing based on a person's genetic makeup is known as pharmacogenomics and is at the forefront of 21st century medicine. The UGT1A1 test is part of a growing list of pharmacogenomic tests designed to help physicians personalize therapy options.

"Precise dosing is extremely important for cancer chemotherapy because a number of of these drugs are most effective at the highest possible dose, yet they are also quite toxic," said Ratain. "But finding the right dose is difficult because patients vary radically and unpredictably in how they respond to these drugs. Our goal is to determine how an individual's genetic makeup controls the ways he or she responds to these drugs--how the medications are absorbed, distributed in the body, broken down, and eliminated--and to use that knowledge to determine the best possible dose for each patient".

"Our early studies with irinotecan demonstrated that the highly variable toxicity was correlation to variability in the drug's metabolism," he said. "We subsequently found that patients with two copies of one version of the UGT1A1 gene had few side effects at the standard dosage. Patients with only one copy of this version had more difficulty, and patients with two copies of the alternative version were at high risk for severe side effects.

"So relying on one standard dose meant that some of those patients received sub-therapeutic doses of irinotecan and others received more than they could manage. We envision that dosing based on the UGT1A1 test will have the dual advantage of reducing side effects and increasing benefit of this important drug".

Because of this study, the FDA, on June 7, 2005, mandatory amendment of the package insert for Camptosarandreg; to include a warning that patients with a particular UGT1A1 genotype should receive a lower starting dose.

"With the growing interest in individualizing drug treatment, FDA's approval of this assay provides physicians and patients with important information on the proper dosage of drugs metabolized and cleared from the body by the UGT1A1 pathway," said Lawrence Lesko, PhD, Director of the FDA's Office of Clinical Pharmacology and Biopharmaceutics in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research in a press release issued when the FDA approved UGT1A1 testing in August.

"Information on the UGT1A1 genotype can be an integral part of drug labels," he added, "And will guide health professionals on how to dose medications such as irinotecan".

Colorectal cancer is the fourth most usually diagnosed cancer in the U.S., with more than 145,000 new cases per year in the U.S. It accounts for nearly 60,000 deaths per year in the U.S. alone.

The application of this test for patients with colon and rectal cancer, however, may only be the beginning. Irinotecan also is being tested and used for other GI cancers as well as lung and breast carcinoma.

The Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic maintains an active diagnostic test development program. These activities also incorporate discoveries made elsewhere, such as the UGT1A1 patents from the University of Chicago. Mayo Clinic offers these proven diagnostic technologies to more than 5,000 healthcare institutions around the world through MML.

Mayo acquired an exclusive license to the UGT1A1 technology from the University of Chicago, which includes the right to sub-license the test, and will actively pursue agreements with other academic medical centers, laboratories, diagnostic test companies, and pharmaceutical companies to ensure that patients everywhere have access to this important screening test. Mayo recently sub-licensed the rights under the University of Chicago patent to Third Wave Technologies.

Revenue from MML testing and technology licensing is used to support medical education and research at Mayo Clinic. Camptosarandreg; is a Pfizer product.

Source: University of Chicago Hospitals

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Test For Patients With Colorectal Cancer

Do you read all of the blogs published by medicineworld.org? Many of our bloggers are busy keeping you updated on the various health related topics. We publish the following blogs at this time.

Cancer blog: I manage the cancer blog with lots of help and support form other bloggers. Through this cancer blog my friends and I try to bring stories of hope for patients with cancer. The cancer blog often republishes important blog posts from other cancer related blogs at Medicineworld.org. If you are searching for a blog that covers wide variety of cancer topics, this may be the one for you.

Breast cancer blog: Breast cancer blog is run by Emily and other bloggers and they bring you the latest stories, news and events that are related to breast cancer. Increasing awareness about breast cancer among women and in the general population is the main goal of this breast cancer blog.

Lung cancer blog: Lung cancer blog is managed by Scott with the help of other bloggers. Through this blog Scott and his friends constantly remind the readers about the dangers of smoking. It's a never-ending struggle against this miserable disease with which a social stigma of smoking is associated.

Colon cancer blog: Colon cancer blog is run by Sue and other bloggers. Sue brings a personal touch to the colon cancer blog since her mother died of colon cancer few years ago. She writes about stories, research news and advances in treatment related to colon cancer.

Prostate cancer blog: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men. American Cancer Society estimates that over 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer occur in the United state every year. This important blog about prostate cancer is run by Mark and other bloggers. This blog brings news, stories, and other personal observations related to prostate cancer.

Medicineworld.org publishes a diabetes watch blog and this blog is run by JoAnn other bloggers. This diabetes watch blog brings you the latest in the field of diabetes. This includes personal stories, advances in diagnosis and treatment, and other observations about diabetes. Improving awareness about diabetes is an important mission of this group.

Janet      

University of Chicago scientists have licensed a genetic test that determines which patients are likely to have a serious adverse reaction to irinotecan hydrochloride (Camptosarandreg;), a key component of the standard first-line therapy for advanced cancers of the colon and rectum, to Mayo Clinic.

Until now, the UGT1A1 test has only been available to patients enrolled in studies at the University of Chicago. Third Wave had received FDA approval for its UGT1A1 test kit in August, but the test had still not been made available to patients.

Through this licensing agreement, Mayo Clinic's reference laboratory, Mayo Medical Laboratories (MML), will make the test available to patients nationwide, starting this month.

The UGT1A1 test was developed and patented by Mark J. Ratain, MD, the Leon O. Jacobson Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the Committee on Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics at the University of Chicago, and his colleagues. It gives doctors advance knowledge of an individual's risk for toxicity from irinotecan by revealing whether patients have one of two common versions of a gene that encodes for a protein involved in the metabolism of irinotecan.

"Eventhough most patients tolerate the drug quite well, some patients are genetically predisposed to severe side effects from irinotecan therapy," said Ratain. "The UGT1A1 test enables us to know in advance which patients are at risk. Those patients could be given reduced doses of irinotecan or other chemotherapy drugs".

This kind of customized dosing based on a person's genetic makeup is known as pharmacogenomics and is at the forefront of 21st century medicine. The UGT1A1 test is part of a growing list of pharmacogenomic tests designed to help physicians personalize therapy options.

"Precise dosing is extremely important for cancer chemotherapy because a number of of these drugs are most effective at the highest possible dose, yet they are also quite toxic," said Ratain. "But finding the right dose is difficult because patients vary radically and unpredictably in how they respond to these drugs. Our goal is to determine how an individual's genetic makeup controls the ways he or she responds to these drugs--how the medications are absorbed, distributed in the body, broken down, and eliminated--and to use that knowledge to determine the best possible dose for each patient".

"Our early studies with irinotecan demonstrated that the highly variable toxicity was related to variability in the drug's metabolism," he said. "We subsequently found that patients with two copies of one version of the UGT1A1 gene had few side effects at the standard dosage. Patients with only one copy of this version had more difficulty, and patients with two copies of the alternative version were at high risk for severe side effects.

"So relying on one standard dose meant that some of those patients received sub-therapeutic doses of irinotecan and others received more than they could manage. We envision that dosing based on the UGT1A1 test will have the dual advantage of reducing side effects and increasing benefit of this important drug".

Because of this study, the FDA, on June 7, 2005, mandatory amendment of the package insert for Camptosarandreg; to include a warning that patients with a particular UGT1A1 genotype should receive a lower starting dose.

"With the growing interest in individualizing drug treatment, FDA's approval of this assay provides physicians and patients with important information on the proper dosage of drugs metabolized and cleared from the body by the UGT1A1 pathway," said Lawrence Lesko, PhD, Director of the FDA's Office of Clinical Pharmacology and Biopharmaceutics in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research in a press release issued when the FDA approved UGT1A1 testing in August.

"Information on the UGT1A1 genotype can be an integral part of drug labels," he added, "And will guide health professionals on how to dose medications such as irinotecan".

Colorectal cancer is the fourth most usually diagnosed cancer in the U.S., with more than 145,000 new cases per year in the U.S. It accounts for nearly 60,000 deaths per year in the U.S. alone.

The application of this test for patients with colon and rectal cancer, however, may only be the beginning. Irinotecan also is being tested and used for other GI cancers as well as lung and breast carcinoma.

The Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic maintains an active diagnostic test development program. These activities also incorporate discoveries made elsewhere, such as the UGT1A1 patents from the University of Chicago. Mayo Clinic offers these proven diagnostic technologies to more than 5,000 healthcare institutions around the world through MML.

Mayo acquired an exclusive license to the UGT1A1 technology from the University of Chicago, which includes the right to sub-license the test, and will actively pursue agreements with other academic medical centers, laboratories, diagnostic test companies, and pharmaceutical companies to ensure that patients everywhere have access to this important screening test. Mayo recently sub-licensed the rights under the University of Chicago patent to Third Wave Technologies.

Source: University of Chicago Hospitals

Did you know?
University of Chicago scientists have licensed a genetic test that determines which patients are likely to have a serious adverse reaction to irinotecan hydrochloride (Camptosarandreg;), a key component of the standard first-line therapy for advanced cancers of the colon and rectum, to Mayo Clinic.

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