Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer de aths in most developed countries. Screening for colorectal malignancies and polyps (which frequently become cancerous) has been shown to lower the number of deaths from cancer.
Obesity is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer.
Preliminary results from a large, randomized clinical trial for patients with previously untreated recurrent or metastatic breast cancer – cancer that has spread from the breast to other parts of the body – show that those patients who received bevacizumab (Avastin) in combination with standard chemotherapy had a longer time period before their cancer progressed than patients who received the same chemotherapy without bevacizumab.
Biotech company Genentech Inc. and Swiss drug maker Roche Holding AG said that an interim analysis of clinical trial data showed that cancer treatment Avastin met its primary endpoint of increasing survival rates in breast cancer patients.
As part of an agency-wide initiative to speed development of new medical products through the science of pharmacogenomics, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final guidance titled “Pharmacogenomic Data Submissions.”
The most comprehensive federal report available on state-specific cancer rates for the first time includes information on incidence and death rates, as well as data for Hispanics and a new section on mesothelioma and Kaposi’s sarcoma. U.S. Cancer Statistics: 2001 Incidence and Mortality includes quality-assured incidence data from 43 states, six metropolitan areas, and the District of Columbia, covering 92 percent of the U.S. population – up from the coverage rate of 84 percent for the report issued last year. The report supplies essential state, population, racial, ethnic and gender information for tailored cancer prevention and control programs nationwide.
Biotechnology product maker Genentech Inc. said that it received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to manufacture its Avastin colon cancer drug at the company’s Vacaville, Calif., facility.
Drinking a pint of milk a day may offer protection against bowel cancer. A daily consumption of two half-pint glasses of milk was associated with a 12 per cent reduction in the risk of developing the disease when compared with low milk consumption, which for the research was taken as less than a sixth of a pint a day.
Heavy alcohol consumption appears to moderately increase the risk of cancer in the colon and rectum, researchers report in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Although previous studies have linked alcohol use with colon cancer, findings regarding personal factors, types of beverage, and anatomic sites in the colon have been inconsistent, Dr. Eunyoung Cho at Harvard Medical School, Boston, and colleagues note.
Eating a meat-free, vegetarian diet may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, new research suggests. After following more than 10,000 people for 17 years, investigators found that vegetarians were 15 percent less likely to develop colorectal cancer than meat-eaters.