BRAF a new marker? And a New Solution.

Patients with colon cancer have learned over the last two years that we have now a genetic marker which can predict efficacy of antibodies against EGFR which are used in patients with metastatic colon cancer.

We have learned that tumors with mutations in KRAS will not benefit from this treatment. All patients should be tested for KRAS mutation if they have advanced or metastatic disease.

However patients who have mutations of the KRAS gene don’t do worse than patients with wild type. The only difference is that the drugs which target EGFR will not work. Continue reading…

Posted by Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD on June 3rd, 2010
Posted in: From the Desk of Dr. Lenz | No Comments »
Tags: BRAF, clinical trials, Treating Colorectal Cancer

Surgery and Hyperthermia for Mucinous Colorectal Cancer

When we see patients in our offices with metastatic colon cancer which is confined to the peritoneal cavity and the histology of the cancer shows mucinous carcinoma, we consider not only chemotherapy but also think about specialized surgery to remove the cancer in the abdomen and combine this with hyperthermia and chemotherapy given directly into the cavity during surgery.

Why is that? Continue reading…

Posted by Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD on May 26th, 2010
Posted in: From the Desk of Dr. Lenz | 2 Comments »
Tags: HIPEC, Treating Colorectal Cancer

Gene Signature Associated with Prognosis

Genomic Health has commercialized a new test which has been shown to be associated with risk of tumor recurrence for stage II colon cancer. The test came on the market in January of 2010.

I wanted to review with you the limitations of this test, which is  not as good by far as the test they have developed for breast cancer. Continue reading…

Posted by Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD on March 13th, 2010
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Tags: Treating Colorectal Cancer

Tenth Annual Colon Cancer Reception at University of Southern California

Every year in the month of March we celebrate our patients during a reception at USC.

We invite them for food and wine in the Norris lobby which we convert into a party space. We invite patients and physicians to talk about their experiences and about new developments at our center and the progress we have made in the last year. Continue reading…

Posted by Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD on March 4th, 2010
Posted in: From the Desk of Dr. Lenz | 1 Comment »
Tags: colorectal cancer awareness, Treating Colorectal Cancer

Hope and Cure

In this month we don’t want to only raise awareness about prevention of colon cancer. We should be aware of the significant progress we have made in the last 10 years treating it.

With the introduction of irinotecan, oxaliplatin, bevacizumab, and cetuximab, overall survival has tripled to more than two years; but this does not tell us the whole story. In the past patients with metastatic disease all died from their disease. This is not true any longer.

With more active therapies, we have cured more and more patients, particularly those whose cancer has only spread to the liver. There are increasing reports that this is also true for lesions found in one site in the lung. Continue reading…

Posted by Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD on March 3rd, 2010
Posted in: From the Desk of Dr. Lenz | 10 Comments »
Tags: Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, metastases, Treating Colorectal Cancer