News and Features Related to Colorectal Cancer

1. Colonoscopy Prep Worse Than Procedure
   

   May 16, 2008 -- Preparing for colonoscopy is more uncomfortable than the procedure itself, a new poll shows. In colonoscopy, a doctor guides a thin, flexible tube capped with a tiny camera through the colon to look for tumors or other abnormalities. Colonoscopy or other colon cancer screening tests

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2. Earlier Colon Cancer Screening?
   

   May 15, 2008 -- On your 50th birthday, you'll get a present from your doctor -- a referral to colon cancer screening, preferably by colonoscopy. But a new study suggests this gift might do more good if it arrives years earlier. Most people don't get colon cancer before they're 60. Although colon can

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3. Avastin May Stop Rectal Cancer Spread
   

   April 15, 2008 (San Diego) -- Adding the cancer drug Avastin to standard treatment stopped cancer spread in 22 of 24 patients with rectal tumors, researchers report. The patients were given Avastin, chemotherapy, and radiation prior to surgery to have their tumors removed. Three years later, all the

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4. Drug Combo Stops Recurrent Colon Polyps
   

   April 15, 2008 (San Diego) -- A combination of the targeted anticancer agent DFMO and the antiarthritis drug sulindac reduces the risk of recurrent colon polyps by up to 95%, researchers report. Importantly, the combination was associated with less toxicity than chemotherapy, says study head Frank M

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5. Colon Cancer Tests Catching On
   

   March 13, 2008 -- Getting a colon cancer test has become more common for people aged 50 and older, but less so for minorities. The CDC reported that news today, based on national health studies done from 2002 to 2006.  Colon cancer screening is recommended starting at age 50 for people who aren't at

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6. Flat Lesions Linked to Colon Cancer
   

   March 6, 2008 -- They are usually missed or overlooked during colon cancer screening, but flat lesions within the lining of the colon and rectum may be more likely to be cancerous than polyps, new research shows. They are also more common in the U.S. population than previously thought. Known as nonp

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7. New Colon Cancer Screening Guidelines
   

   March 6, 2008 -- Colon cancer experts today issued new guidelines about colon cancer screening tests. The new guidelines, which emphasize colon cancer prevention, come from the American Cancer Society, the U.S. Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer, and the American College of Radiology. Her

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8. Virtual or Real, Colonoscopy Is Best
   

   Jan. 28, 2008 (Orlando, Fla.) -- Virtual colonoscopy is nearly as accurate as the real thing, and both methods far outperform three other standard screening methods for colon cancer, German researchers report. Their study of more than 300 low-risk, healthy men and women compared virtual and real col

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9. Blood Test Detects Colon Cancer
   

   Jan. 24, 2008 (Orlando) -- A novel blood test holds promise for both detecting and preventing colon cancer, researchers report. The test spots a protein called colon cancer-specific antigen-2 (CCSA-2) that is elevated in the presence of colon cancer or growths that are destined to become colon cance

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10. Colon Cancer Ancestors Found
    

    Jan. 4, 2008 -- Colon cancer's family tree may date back to Pilgrim days, and that lineage may help save lives in the U.S. today. University of Utah researchers have tracked a gene mutation linked to colon cancer risk back to an English couple that sailed to colonial America before 1640. The couple

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