Category: Colorectal Cancer

A drug to treat colon cancer is proving much more convenient than traditional chemotherapy, has fewer side effects and a study of almost 2,000 patients has shown it is giving them a better chance of surviving the disease. “Standard chemotherapy can be incredibly disruptive to people’s lives,” said Prof Professor Chris Twelves of the University of Leeds, who led the research.

A drug to treat colon cancer is proving much more convenient than traditional chemotherapy, has fewer side effects and a study of almost 2,000 patients has shown it is giving them a better chance of surviving the disease. “Standard chemotherapy can be incredibly disruptive to people’s lives,” said Prof Professor Chris Twelves of the University of Leeds, who led the research.

ImClone Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ: IMCL) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an update to the ERBITUX® (Cetuximab) product labeling to include overall survival data as a single agent in epidermal growth factor inhibitor (EGFR)-expressing metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients after failure of both irinotecan- and oxaliplatin-based regimens.

Results from two studies comparing colorectal cancer screening by conventional or optical colonoscopy versus CT colonography (sometimes called virtual colonoscopy) have sparked interest in colorectal cancer screening and may raise questions in the minds of consumers.

New results of a pivotal study recently presented at a meeting of the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN), showed that Computed Tomography (CT) colonography is at least as sensitive as conventional colonoscopy in detecting adenomas of 1 cm diameter or larger. Adenomas are precursors to colorectal cancer, the second most common cause of death from cancer in the EU with more than 138,000 deaths in 20001.

A Leicester cancer research project, which receives funding from Hope Against Cancer (formerly The Hope Foundation,) is investigating whether an extract from bilberries can prevent or delay the onset of certain cancers.

Stony Brook based Viatronix Incorporated (http://www.viatronix.com), a leading innovator and developer of 3D imaging software announced the publication of a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine, titled “CT Colonography versus Colonoscopy for the Detection of Advanced Neoplasia”. The study utilized the Viatronix V3D- Colon platform exclusively.

More than 100,000 people will develop colon cancer in 2007, according to the American Cancer Society; the disease currently causes more than 55,000 U.S. deaths annually. However, the incidence of colon cancer-related mortalities has decreased in recent years, partly due to increased screening for the disease and the removal of colon polyps, the tumors that form inside the large intestine, detected during screening, according to UCLA’s Healthy Years.

MGT Capital Investments, Inc. (Amex: MGT), an investment company focused on the Healthcare Information Technology (”HCIT”) sector, announced that the ACRIN study endorses virtual colonoscopy for Medicsight PLC (subsidiary of MGT).

ImClone Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq: IMCL) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an update to the ERBITUX(R) (Cetuximab) product labeling to include overall survival data as a single agent in epidermal growth factor inhibitor (EGFR)-expressing metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients after failure of both irinotecan- and oxaliplatin-based regimens.