CT Colonography Effective in Older Adults

CT colonography (virtual colonoscopy) found more than twice the rate of large polyps or cancer in patients 65 and older compared to everyone being screened for colorectal cancer using the radiology-based test.

About one in six older patients was referred for an optical colonoscopy based on findings from the scans.

There were no major complications including colon perforations or bleeding, from either the CT procedure or the follow-up colonoscopy. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on January 28th, 2010
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: CT colonography, elderly

Older patients benefit from XELOX after surgery

Update from 2010 GI Cancers Symposium

Colon cancer patients over 70 actually had a greater reduction in disease-free survival than did younger ones with a new regimen of Xeloda® and oxaliplatin compared to older IV 5-FU treatments according to a new analysis reported at the GI Cancers Symposium in Orlando.

With the bolus IV 5-FU and leucovorin regimens, stage III colon cancer patients over 70 had about a 60 percent chance of being alive and free from cancer three years after surgery. With a combination of Xeloda (capecitabine) and oxaliplatin in a treatment called XELOX, their three-year disease-free survival was 66 percent.

Younger patients had about a 3 percent absolute improvement between the two treatments from 69 percent to 72 percent. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on January 25th, 2010
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | 1 Comment »
Tags: capecitabine, elderly, oxaliplatin, recurrence risk, Xeloda

Colorectal Cancer News in Brief: December 29

Briefly

Factors related to the patient, year of surgery, and tumor itself and not surgeons or pathologists explain low lymph node counts after colon and rectal surgery.  Lack of colorectal cancer screening leads to emergency surgery and complications and death among the elderly.

Americans without health insurance are more likely to die, even when factors like overall health, smoking, and income are considered, and cancer patients who have support from family and friends at diagnosis are much more likely to look on the entire experience as a chance for positive growth years later.

Finally, FDA has a good video to help people avoid health care frauds.

Happy Holidays.  Enjoy family, friends, and lights. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on December 29th, 2009
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | 2 Comments »
Tags: colorectal cancer screening, elderly, FDA, uninsured

Avastin Effective for Older Patients

Colorectal cancer patients 65 and older without other serious medical problems benefitted when Avastin® (bevacizumab) was added to chemotherapy.

Combining results of four randomized clinical trials of Avastin and chemotherapy in patients with advanced colorectal cancer, researchers found that adding Avastin increased both the time older patients lived and the time before their cancer got worse.

Patients who were 70 and older had similar improvements. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on November 17th, 2009
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: Avastin, bevacizumab, chemotherapy, elderly

Should Older Patients be Treated in the Same Way as Younger Ones?

Last week I had a consultation with an older gentleman who is 84 years old. Interestingly, the role of age in the treatment of colon cancer has changed. During my training in Germany in the nineteen eighties when someone came in with metastatic cancer and was older than 65, we rarely gave chemotherapy because we were afraid to make those patients sicker than cancer did.

We have a perception that when someone is old we should be much more gentle and we should adapt treatment not only using less aggressive chemotherapy cocktails but also lower doses.. These perceptions go back to the history of chemotherapy when chemotherapy drugs made most patients very sick and weak. With less toxic chemotherapeutic therapies and much better drugs against nausea and vomiting, our perception needs to be reevaluated. Continue reading…

Posted by Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD on January 26th, 2009
Posted in: From the Desk of Dr. Lenz | 4 Comments »
Tags: chemotherapy, elderly, Treating Colorectal Cancer