Net Guides: Colon Cancer

//THE ONLINE ONCOLOGIST

National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable The National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (NCCRT) is a coalition of organizations dedicated to improving colorectal cancer (CRC) control through promoting communication, collaboration, and coordination among medical professionals, health agencies, and the public. The NCCRT website contains a resource library with a large collection of books, brochures, links, and other types of resources related to CRC, many of which are also available in Spanish. Public awareness and patient education booklets are available, but there are some that provide information for healthcare professional, as well. These include guides on irritable bowel syndrome, gastrointestinal disorders, improving delivery of CRC screening, cleaning and disinfection of endoscopes, and more. Other sections of the website feature a CRC news page, a calendar of events related to CRC, new journal abstracts, and an education and outreach library.

www.nccrt.org

//THE EDUCATED PATIENT®

The Susan Cohan Kasdas Colon Cancer Foundation The Susan Cohan Kasdas Colon Cancer Foundation (CCF) is an organization dedicated to fighting colon cancer by raising public awareness and educating patients. The CCF website has a colon cancer information section with a general summary of the disease and explanations of disease prevention, the stages of colon cancer, flexible sigmoidoscopy, colostomy, colon cleansers, and a treatment option overview. Explanations are accompanied by full-color diagrams to help illustrate them. The CCF website also has informational sections on colon cancer screening, prevention, heredity, clinical trials, and colonoscopies. Another section has more in-depth information on surgery options, and features pages on minimally invasive procedures for colon surgery, colon cancer, and colon polyps; an illustrations and graphics collection; information on post-surgery issues and risks; what to ask one’s physician; other online resources; and a colectomy movie. The CCF also offers a monthly eNewsletter, with archived issues available.

www.coloncancerfoundation.org

//ONLINE CME

Single sigmoidoscopy could prevent one-third of colorectal cancers

Credits: 0.25 Fee: None Expires: May 6, 2011 This CME activity is based on a news article about the results of a new study from the United Kingdom published online in The Lancet. The study found that a single examination using flexible sigmoidoscopy in healthy individuals between 55 and 64 years of age, as well as the removal of any found polyps, reduced CRC incidence by one third. It also reduced deaths from the disease by 43%. The study had a median follow- up of 11 years. On completing the activity, participants should be able to evaluate flexible sigmoidoscopy as an option for CRC screening. Participants should also be able to identify long-term outcomes associated with one-time screening using flexible sigmoidoscopy.

http://tinyurl.com/2ak9x64

//eABSTRACT

Surveillance with serial serum carcinoembryonic levels detect CRC recur- rences in patients who are initial nonsecretors

Journal: The American Surgeon Authors: Holt A, Nelson RA, Lai L Purpose: Patients with CRC who present with elevated serum carcino- embryonic antigen (CEA) levels are typically monitored for recurrence after initial resection. It has not been confirmed whether there is any value in following nonsecretors, patients who present with normal or lowered CEA. In order to determine the value of follow-up CEA levels in nonsecretors, the authors of this study performed a retrospective review of patients with resected Stage I, II, and III CRC. Patients who did not have a pretreatment CEA level, at least 2 follow-up CEA levels, and normal- ized CEA levels after resection were excluded for this study.

Results: 186 patients with CRC were included in the study. 146 of them were initial nonsecretors. Of the 22 patients who developed recurrent CRC, 6 were secretors and 16 were nonsecretors. In the secretors group, CEA levels were elevated with recur- rence in 4 of the patients. The CEA levels were elevated in 8 of the non- secretors. The authors concluded that many CRC recurrences are marked by elevated CEA levels, regardless of whether the patients were initially secretors or nonsecretors. http://tinyurl.com/29ja8r8

//CLINICAL TRIAL

A clinical study of PHY906 as a modulator of CPT-11 in patients with metastatic CRC

Study Type: Interventional Age/Sex Requirements: 18 years (None) Sponsor: Yale University ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00730158 Purpose: This study will be testing the use of PHY906 in combination with CPT-11 as an adjunct to chemotherapy in the treatment of patients with metastatic CRC. PHY906 is an oral form of a spray-dried aqueous extract made of four primary herbs that have been used in Chinese herbal medicine for almost 2000 years to treat various gastroin- testinal problems, such as diarrhea and nausea/vomiting. Other studies have shown that Chinese herbal medicine demonstrates significant anticancer activity when used in combination with certain cytotoxic agents, including CPT-11. CPT-11 is a semi-synthetic derivative of the natural alkaloid camptothecin and is classified as a topoisomerase I inhibi- tor. The researchers conducting this study believe that the therapeutic use of PHY906 may reduce chemo- therapy-induced toxicity, especially diarrhea, in patients with metastatic CRC. The primary outcome measure of the study will be to determine the maximum tolerated dose of PHY906 when it is combined with a stan- dard dose of CPT-11, as well as the response rate in patients with meta- static CRC. The secondary measures will be progression-free survival and overall survival.

http://bit.ly/hV09jm