New Gene Mutations Linked To Colon Cancer

New Gene Mutations Linked To Colon Cancer.
Researchers who discovered novel gene mutations linked to colon cancer in dark-skinned Americans say their findings could primacy to improved diagnosis and treatment. In the United States, blacks are significantly more likely to result colon cancer and to die from the disease than other racial groups. For the study, the researchers said they employed DNA sequencing to examined 50 million bits of data from 20000 genes. They said that determining gene mutations has been the driving persistence behind all the new drugs created to handle cancer in the last decade.

So "Many of the new cancer drugs on the market today were developed to object specific genes in which mutations were discovered to cause specific cancers," study corresponding initiator Dr Sanford Markowitz, an expert in the genetics of cancer at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, said in a university info release. The investigators compared 103 colon cancer samples from unspeakable patients and 129 samples from white patients treated at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland.

The Overall Rate Of Colon Cancer Has Fallen

The Overall Rate Of Colon Cancer Has Fallen.
Although the overall charge of colon cancer has fallen in just out decades, new research suggests that over the remain 20 years the disease has been increasing among young and early middle-aged American adults. At outgoing are colon cancer rates among men and women between the ages of 20 and 49, a assortment that generally isn't covered by public health guidelines. "This is real," said mug up co-author Jason Zell, an assistant professor in the departments of medicine and epidemiology at the University of California, Irvine. "Multiple explore organizations have shown that colon cancer is rising in those under 50, and our contemplation found the same, particularly among very young adults.

Which means that the epidemiology of this disease is changing, even if the through-and-through risk among young adults is still very low". Results of the study were published recently in the Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology. The muse about authors noted that more than 90 percent of those with colon cancer are 50 and older. Most Americans (those with no one's own flesh and blood history or heightened endanger profile) are advised to start screening at age 50.

Despite remaining the third most stereotyped cancer in the United States (and the number two cause of cancer deaths), a steady be produced in screening rates has appeared to be the main driving force behind a decades-long plummet in overall colon cancer rates, according to upbringing information in the study. An analysis of US National Cancer Institute data, published survive November in JAMA Surgery, indicated that, as a whole, colon cancer rates had fallen by inartistically 1 percent every year between 1975 and 2010.

But, that review also revealed that during the same time period, the rate among people aged 20 to 34 had in reality gone up by 2 percent annually, while those between 35 and 49 had seen a half-percent yearly uptick. To peruse that trend, the current study focused on data collected by the California Cancer Registry. This registry included dope on nearly 232000 colon cancer cases diagnosed between 1988 and 2009.

Statins Do Not Reduce The Risk Of Colon Cancer

Statins Do Not Reduce The Risk Of Colon Cancer.
Statins don't belittle the gamble of colorectal cancer, and may even increase the chances of developing precancerous polyps, recent research suggests. Statins are widely prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs sold in a classification of generic forms and brand names, including Lipitor, Crestor and Zocor.

Yet, researchers stressed that the results are "not conclusive," and that woman in the street taking statins to lower cholesterol and reduce their chance of heart attack should continue taking the drugs. "We found patients in this study taking statins for more than three years tended to come forth more premalignant colon lesions," said study author Dr Monica Bertagnolli, paramount of the division of surgical oncology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and a professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. "This is an stimulating finding that needs to be followed up, but it should not raise alarm. No one should desist taking their statins."

The study is to be presented Monday at the American Association for Cancer Research annual converging in Washington, DC, and it is also published online in the journal Cancer Prevention Research. The matter used in the analysis was from an earlier clinical trial to determine if the cox-2 anodyne celecoxib (Celebrex) could be used to prevent colon cancer.

That trial included 2035 man who were at high risk of colon cancer and had already been diagnosed with precancerous polyps, or adenomas. That study, published in 2006, found the celecoxib reduced the manifestation of adenomas, but it also more than doubled the risk of heart jump and other serious cardiac events.

Colonoscopy Decreases The Potential For Colorectal Cancer On The Right Side Of The Colon Also

Colonoscopy Decreases The Potential For Colorectal Cancer On The Right Side Of The Colon Also.
In totalling to reducing the chance of cancer on the Heraldry sinister side of the colon, new research indicates that colonoscopies may also reduce cancer gamble on the right side. The finding contradicts some previous research that had indicated a right-side "blind spots" when conducting colonoscopies. However, the right-side forward shown in the new study, published in the Jan 4, 2011 matter of the Annals of Internal Medicine, was slightly less effective than that seen on the left side side. "We didn't really have robust data proving that anything is very good at preventing right-sided cancer," said Dr Vivek Kaul, acting most important of gastroenterology and hepatology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. "Here is a periodical that suggests that risk reduction is fetching robust even in the right side. The risk reduction is not as exciting as in the left side, but it's still more than 50 percent.

That's a crumb hard to ignore". The news is "reassuring," agreed Dr David Weinberg, chairman of remedy at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, who wrote an accompanying column on the finding. Though no one study ever provides definitive proof "if the statistics from this study is in fact true, then this gives strong support for current guidelines". The American Cancer Society recommends that normal-risk men and women be screened for colon cancer, starting at period 50.

A colonoscopy once every 10 years is one of the recommended screening tools. However, there has been some mull over as to whether colonoscopy - an invasive and dear procedure - is truly preferable to other screening methods, such as extensible sigmoidoscopy. Based on a review of medical records of 1,688 German patients aged 50 and over with colorectal cancer and 1,932 without, the researchers found a 77 percent reduced endanger for this strain of malignancy among people who'd had a colonoscopy in the past 10 years, as compared with those who had not.

The Use Of Colonoscopy Reduces The Risk Of Colon Cancer

The Use Of Colonoscopy Reduces The Risk Of Colon Cancer.
In summation to reducing the endanger of cancer on the left side of the colon, strange research indicates that colonoscopies may also reduce cancer risk on the right side. The judgement contradicts some previous research that had indicated a right-side "blind spots" when conducting colonoscopies. However, the right-side help shown in the new study, published in the Jan 4, 2011 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, was to a certain less effective than that seen on the left side.

And "We didn't really have hardy data proving that anything is very good at preventing right-sided cancer," said Dr Vivek Kaul, acting overseer of gastroenterology and hepatology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. "Here is a article that suggests that risk reduction is pretty robust even in the right side. The danger reduction is not as exciting as in the left side, but it's still more than 50 percent. That's a little brutal to ignore".

The news is "reassuring," agreed Dr David Weinberg, chairman of medicine at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, who wrote an accompanying think-piece on the finding. Though no one muse about ever provides definitive proof "if the data from this study is in fact true, then this gives strong stick for current guidelines".

The American Cancer Society recommends that normal-risk men and women be screened for colon cancer, starting at ripen 50. A colonoscopy once every 10 years is one of the recommended screening tools. However, there has been some reflect as to whether colonoscopy - an invasive and expensive procedure - is truthfully preferable to other screening methods, such as flexible sigmoidoscopy.

Early Diagnostics Of A Colorectal Cancer

Early Diagnostics Of A Colorectal Cancer.
Researchers in South Korea verbalize they've developed a blood probe that spots genetic changes that signal the poise of colon cancer, April 2013. The test accurately spotted 87 percent of colon cancers across all cancer stages, and also correctly identified 95 percent of patients who were cancer-free, the researchers said. Colon cancer remains the patronize prime cancer humdinger in the United States, after lung cancer. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 137000 Americans were diagnosed with the infirmity in 2009; 40 percent of people diagnosed will pay one's debt to nature from the disease.

Right now, invasive colonoscopy remains the "gold standard" for spotting cancer early, although fecal magical blood testing (using stool samples) also is used. What's needed is a authoritatively accurate but noninvasive testing method, experts say. The new blood check-up looks at the "methylation" of genes, a biochemical process that is key to how genes are expressed and function. Investigators from Genomictree Inc and Yonsei University College of Medicine in Seoul said they spotted a set of genes with patterns of methylation that seems to be restricted to tissues from colon cancer tumors.

Changes in one gene in particular, called SDC2, seemed especially tied to colon cancer wen and spread. As reported in the July 2013 emergence of the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, the side tested the gene-based cull in tissues taken from 133 colon cancer patients. As expected, tissues captivated from colon cancer tumors in these patients showed the characteristic gene changes, while samples infatuated from adjacent healthy tissues did not.

More important, the same genetic hallmarks of colon cancer (or their absence) "could be prudent in blood samples from colorectal cancer patients and healthy individuals," the researchers said in a memoir news release. The test was able to detect stage 1 cancer 92 percent of the time, "indicating that SDC2 is acceptable for early detection of colorectal cancer where therapeutical interventions have the greatest likelihood of curing the patient from the disease," study prospect author TaeJeong Oh said in the news release.

A New Factor Of Increasing The Risk Of Colon Cancer Was Studied

A New Factor Of Increasing The Risk Of Colon Cancer Was Studied.
Researchers communication that spacy levels of a protein measured through blood tests could be a foreshadowing that patients are at higher risk of colon cancer. And another new investigate finds that in blacks, a common germ boosts the risk of colorectal polyps - odd tissue growths in the colon that often become cancerous.

Both studies are slated to be presented Monday at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual intersection in Washington, DC. One study links altered consciousness levels of circulating C-reactive protein to a higher risk of colon cancer. Protein levels also take a rise out of when there's low-grade inflammation in the body.

So "Elevated CRP levels may be considered as a imperil marker, but not necessarily a cause, for the carcinogenic process of colon cancer," Dr Gong Yang, examine associate professor at Vanderbilt University, said in an AACR news release. Yang and colleagues wilful 338 cases of colorectal cancer among participants in the Shanghai Women's Health Study and compared them to 451 women without the disease.

Women whose protein levels were in the highest humanity had a 2,5 - clip higher risk of colon cancer compared to those in the lowest quarter. In the other study, researchers linked the bacterium Helicobacter pylori to a higher jeopardize of colorectal polyps in blacks. That could pressure it more likely that they'll develop colon cancer.

But "Not the whole world gets sick from H pylori infection, and there is a legitimate concern about overusing antibiotics to present it," said Dr Duane T Smoot, chief of the gastrointestinal segment at Howard University, in a statement. However, the majority of the time these polyps will become cancerous if not removed, so we be in want of to screen for the bacteria and treat it as a possible cancer prevention strategy. The ruminate on authors, who examined the medical records of 1262 black patients, found that the polyps were 50 percent more governing in those who were infected with H pylori.

New Non Invasive Test For Detection Of Tumors Of The Colon Is More Accurate Than Previously Used

New Non Invasive Test For Detection Of Tumors Of The Colon Is More Accurate Than Previously Used.
A fresh noninvasive assess to locate pre-cancerous polyps and colon tumors appears to be more accurate than tendency noninvasive tests such as the fecal occult blood test, Mayo clinic researchers say. The quest for a highly accurate, noninvasive alternative to invasive screens such as colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy is a "Holy Grail" of colon cancer research. In a precedence trial, the new examine was able to identify 64 percent of pre-cancerous polyps and 85 percent of full-blown cancers, the researchers reported.

Dr Floriano Marchetti, an aide-de-camp professor of clinical surgery in the division of colon and rectal surgery at University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, said the brand-new evaluation could be an important adjunct to colon cancer screening if it proves itself in further study. "Obviously, these findings fundamental to be replicated on a larger scale. Hopefully, this is a good start for a more reliable test".

Dr Durado Brooks, chief of colorectal cancer at the American Cancer Society, agreed. "These findings are interesting. They will be more engaging if we ever get this kind of data in a screening population".

The study's lead researcher remained optimistic. "There are 150000 renewed cases of colon cancer each year in the United States, treated at an estimated fetch of $14 billion," noted Dr David A Ahlquist, professor of pharmaceutical and a consultant in gastroenterology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. "The fancy is to eradicate colon cancer altogether and the most realistic approach to getting there is screening. And screening not only in a modus vivendi that would not only detect cancer, but pre-cancer. Our test takes us closer to that dream".

Ahlquist was scheduled to announce the findings of the study Thursday in Philadelphia at a meeting on colorectal cancer sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research. The recent technology, called the Cologuard sDNA test, mill by identifying specific altered DNA in cells shed by pre-cancerous or cancerous polyps into the patient's stool.

If a DNA distortion is found, a colonoscopy would still be needed to confirm the results, just as happens now after a supportive fecal occult blood test (FOBT) result. To see whether the test was effective, Ahlquist's crew tried it out on more than 1100 frozen stool samples from patients with and without colorectal cancer.

The assay was able to detect 85,3 percent of colorectal cancers and 63,8 percent of polyps bigger than 1 centimeter. Polyps this immensity are considered pre-cancers and most likely to progress to cancer.

Surgery Is Not Life-Prolonging

Surgery Is Not Life-Prolonging.
Fewer US colon cancer patients who are diagnosed in the absolute stages of their complaint are having what can often be unnecessary surgery to have the primary tumor removed, researchers report. These patients are also living longer even as the surgery becomes less common, although their run-of-the-mill forecast is not good. The findings reveal "increased recognition that the first-line treatment honestly is chemotherapy" for stage 4 colon cancer patients, said study co-author Dr George Chang, master of colon and rectal surgery at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. While removing the firsthand tumor may be helpful for some reasons "surgery is not life-prolonging".

With the patients in question, their cancer has limits from the intestines to other organs such as the liver or lung, in a prepare called metastasis. In many cases, the prognosis is death, one expert not part of the study said. "Cure is not accomplishable for most patients with metastatic colorectal cancer," said Dr Ankit Sarin, an aide-de-camp professor of surgery in the section of colon and rectal surgery at University of California, San Francisco.

Twenty percent of patients diagnosed with colon cancer have status 4 disease, according to family information in the study. Cancer specialists and patients face a big question after such a diagnosis: What treatment, if any, should these patients have? "The initial instinct is 'I want it out'". But removing the tumor from the colon may not be useful once cancer has spread, and "getting it out may delay their ability to get treatment that's life-prolonging".