Continuing Research for a Colon Cancer Vaccine

Everyone reading this likely has received a vaccine of some kind, such as one for polio, flu or measles. For those affected by colon cancer, a vaccine for the disease may seem like a far-fetched dream, but maybe it isn’t. News from the world of cancer vaccine research is very encouraging—colon cancer vaccines are being studied at several major research centers and the early results look promising.

Cancer vaccines, in general, are nothing new, of course. They typically fall into one of two categories: preventive and treatment.  Preventive vaccines prevent cancer from developing in healthy people. These are similar to the traditional vaccines most of us have had.

Two preventive cancer vaccines that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are Gardasil® and Cervarix®, which protect against infection from the virus that can cause cervical cancer. You have likely seen advertisements for these vaccines. Another preventive vaccine protects against hepatitis B (HBV) infection, which can lead to liver cancer. Most children in the United States receive this vaccine shortly after birth.

Treatment vaccines treat an existing cancer by strengthening the body’s natural defenses against the cancer. Only one cancer treatment vaccine has been approved by the FDA. Provenge® is used to treat some men who have metastatic prostate cancer (cancer that has spread to other parts of the body).

In September, Susie’s Cause made a donation to the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins to fund research for a colon cancer vaccine. The team at Hopkins recently completed a phase 1 clinical trial of a vaccine. Their new study will test a combination vaccine therapy in advanced colorectal cancer patients who have completed chemotherapy. If successful, this treatment would give patients a way to keep their disease stable after treatment and could prove to be helpful in earlier stages of the disease as well. 

Other colon cancer vaccine studies are taking place at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute announced initial success of their colon cancer vaccine in human trials earlier this year. Their study, published in the January 2013 edition of Cancer Prevention Research, showed that their vaccine is safe and produced the immune response they expected.

These are exciting times in cancer research! The Susan Cohan Colon Cancer Foundation will be watching to see how these studies unfold. Be sure to check our website (www.coloncancerfoundation.org) and like our page on Facebook for the latest developments.

Can Excess Weight Increase Your Risk of Colon Cancer?



Posted by Barbara Armstrong Green

I don’t know about you, but the more I read about the benefits of losing those pounds, the more I am amazed by the damage love handles can do to your life and mine.

I’ve just finished reading an eye-opening article by healthy lifestyle guru, Joel Fuhrman M.D., about the dangerous connection between excess weight and cancer, including colon cancer and a long list of other cancers. 

According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, excess body fat alone causes over 100,000 cancers in the United States each year.

Take colon cancer, for example. It’s estimated that obesity is responsible for about 35 percent of colon cancer cases. But we can reverse that statistic if we get moving, lose those love handles, and eat lots of   health promoting fruits and vegetables.

And don't forget to get a colon cancer screening. It could save your life.

Learn More>  Colon Cancer and Obesity



FDA Approves New Use of Avastin for Some Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Patients

If you or a loved one is battling colon cancer, you may be interested in reading about a new option for some Avastin therapy users.

On January 23, 2013, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Avastin, (Genentech U.S., Inc.) for use in combination with fluoropyrimidine-irinotecan or fluoropyrimidine-oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy for people with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) whose disease has progressed.

“The majority of people diagnosed with mCRC receive Avastin plus chemotherapy as their initial treatment,” said Hal Barron, M.D., chief medical officer and head of Global Product Development. “These people now have the option to continue with Avastin plus a new chemotherapy after their cancer worsens, which may help them live longer than changing to the new chemotherapy alone,” he added.

The FDA approval is based on positive results from the Phase III ML18147 study, which was presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting and showed that people who continued to receive an Avastin-based regimen after their cancer worsened lived longer than people who switched to chemotherapy alone. Median overall survival was 11.2 months compared to 9.8 months.

Screening Saves Lives

Think about it. One out of 20 U.S. citizens will experience colon cancer in their lifetime. Last year alone, over 50,000 people died of colon cancer. How can that be when this disease is over 90% curable when detected and treated early? Still, colon cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths of men and women. People are dying because they are not finding the cancer soon enough. This is due, in part, to the lack awareness about screening and the difficulty that some find in discussing the disease and reporting symptoms. But what can you do? You can help Susie's Cause in their effort to increase awareness, not only about colon cancer, but also about how screening works and how it can save lives.
 
Looking for Information on Treatment Options?

Check our treatment page for a breakdown of information on several colon cancer treatment types.
[Treatment Types]  

Sources:

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/InformationOnDrugs/ApprovedDrugs/ucm336763.htm  [FDA]

 http://www.gene.com/media/press-releases/14307/2013-01-23/fda-approves-new-use-of-avastin-plus-che/Genentech   [Genentech: A Member of the Roche Group]

Medical Disclaimer:

The information presented on the Susan Cohan Colon Cancer web site is solely intended to provide you with information that will help educate you on the importance of diet, exercise and regular cancer screening in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Adopting these habits is an individual choice and one that should only be made after consultation with your health care professional. No information provided on this Web site or otherwise is intended to replace or in any way modify the advice of your health care professional.

Can Aspirin Protect Us from Colon Cancer?



Posted by Barbara Armstrong Green

Aspirin – that tiny pill with a growing list of reasons to take one – has the cancer research community wondering if it’s time to recommend widespread use of aspirin to prevent colon cancer. A number of studies suggest that aspirin may prevent and possibly reduce the risk of dying from some cancers including colon cancer.

At the 2012 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Vienna, members debated whether the evidence is strong enough to outweigh the risks of prescribing aspirin to millions of healthy people.

There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that taking aspirin (NSAID) may reduce an individual’s chances of developing colorectal cancer and perhaps other malignancies. A recent meta-analysis that focused on the effect of aspirin use on colorectal cancer showed large and statistically significant reductions in both incidence and death from the disease. The finding, the study team pointed out, is consistent with results from numerous studies that have shown that regular (NSAID) use reduces or prevents precancerous growths in the colon from increasing.

Pros and Cons

Dr. Peter Rothwell of the University of Oxford argued that the mounting evidence of aspirin’s strong anticancer effect is hard to ignore. He suggested that “at a minimum, in combination with the appropriate screening, the data indicate that aspirin would be highly effective in preventing colon cancer.”

However, other medical experts argue that it is premature to recommend that people start taking aspirin specifically to prevent cancer. Even low-dose aspirin may trigger gastrointestinal bleeding. Dr. John Baron of the University of North Carolina said he is not ready to endorse aspirin's widespread use for cancer prevention. "We need to consider all of the benefits and harms that can accrue from aspirin use," said Dr. Baron.

A recent edition of the NCI Cancer Bulletin, reported that the strongest data for supporting the use of aspirin (NSAID) to reduce cancer is in colorectal cancer. But unanswered questions remain, such as dosage, how long to take aspirin for the optimum effect, and when to start taking it.

So stay tuned. And, as always, check with your medical team before making any changes to your medications.

Medical Disclaimer

The information presented on the Susan Cohan Colon Cancer web site is solely intended to provide you with information that will help educate you on the importance of diet, exercise and regular cancer screening in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Adopting these habits is an individual choice and one that should only be made after consultation with your health care professional. No information provided on this Web site or otherwise is intended to replace or in any way modify the advice of your health care professional.

Source: National Cancer Institute



What You Need to Know about Vitamin D

 

Posted by Barbara Armstrong Green

Welcome. Vitamin D is something I never paid much attention to.  That’s the sunshine vitamin, I thought.  All I have to do is walk outside for a while and I'm covered. And besides, I can also get Vitamin D from various food sources such as fish, eggs, fortified milk, and cod liver oil.

But it turns out to be more complicated than that. I'm paying attention now and so should you.

According to  Dr. Joel Fuhrman, board certified family physician and New York Times bestselling author of Super  Immunity, "Vitamin D can provide powerful cancer protection. Yet Vitamin D insufficiency is common among Americans overall but more prevalent among African Americans. A recent review of the literature suggests that Vitamin D insufficiency is a key contributor to cancer survival disparities that exist between African Americans and white Americans (darker skin is less efficient at producing vitamin D in response to UV rays).

A striking part of this literature review is the comprehensive summary of the existing data on vitamin D status and cancer survival. The authors present a long list of studies reporting that Vitamin D adequacy is associated with reduced risk of death in all cancers combined, breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer, leukemia and lymphomas.”

Click the Prevention Tab on our web site to read Dr. Fuhrman's entire article.

The author, Dr. Joel Fuhrman is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and board certified family physician specializing in lifestyle and nutritional medicine. His new book Super Immunity discusses how to naturally strengthen the immune system against everything from the common cold to cancer

 Prevention Tab

Medical Disclaimer

The information presented on the Susan Cohan Colon Cancer web site is solely intended to provide you with information that will help educate you on the importance of diet, exercise and regular cancer screening in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Adopting these habits is an individual choice and one that should only be made after consultation with your health care professional. No information provided on this Web site or otherwise offered is intended to replace or in any way modify the advice of your health care professional.



FDA Approves Two New Colorectal Cancer Treatments

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the following two new treatments for advanced colon cancer, Stivarga  and Zaltrap.

Stivarga Approved in September 2012

In September the FDA approved Stivarga to treat patients with colorectal cancer that has progressed after treatment and spread to other parts of the body. Stivarga blocks several enzymes that promote cancer growth.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, colorectal cancer is the second most common cancer affecting both men and in women and the second cause of cancer death in men and in women in the United States. The National Institutes of Health estimates 143,460 Americans will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and 51,690 will die from the disease in 2012.

The new drug was reviewed under the FDA’s priority review program that provides an expedited six-month review for drugs that offer major advances in treatment or that provide treatment when no adequate therapy exists, according to the FDA news release on the new treatment. Stivarga is being released one month ahead of schedule.

“Stivarga is the latest colorectal cancer treatment to demonstrate an ability to extend patients’ lives and is the second drug approved for patients with colorectal cancer in the past two months,” said Richard Pazdur, M.D., director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

The safety and effectiveness of Stivarga were evaluated in a single clinical study of 760 patients with previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer. Patients were randomly assigned to receive Stivarga or placebo in addition to “best supportive care” BSC. Patients received treatment until their cancers progressed or side effects became unacceptable, according to the FDA.

The FDA reported study results that showed patients treated with Stivarga plus BSC lived a median of 6.4 months compared to a median of five months in patients treated with placebo plus BSC. Results also showed patients treated with Stivarga plus BSC experienced a delay in tumor growth for a median of two months compared to a median of 1.7 months in patients receiving placebo plus BSC.

Stivarga has been approved with an alert to patients and health care professionals that severe and fatal liver toxicity occurred in patients treated with Stivarga during clinical studies. The most common side effects reported in patients treated with Stivarga include weakness or fatigue, loss of appetite, hand-food syndrome, diarrhea, mouth sores, weight loss, infection, high blood pressure, and changes in voice volume or quality.

Choosing the most appropriate cancer treatment is a decision that ideally involves the patient, family, and health care team.

Stivarga was developed by Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. and by Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals.

Source: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Zaltrap Approved August 2012

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new treatment called Zaltrap for use in combination with a chemotherapy regimen to treat adults with colorectal cancer. Zaltrap inhibits the blood supply to tumors. It is intended for patients whose cancer has spread to other parts of the body (metastatic) and whose tumors are resistant to or progressed after the commonly used chemotherapy regimen, FOLFIRI. 

“This approval demonstrates the benefits of adding a biological agent, Zaltrap, to a commonly used chemotherapy drug regimen, FOLFIRI,” said Richard Pazdur, M.D., director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “An improvement in median survival time was noted with the addition of Zaltrap to FOLFIRI, accompanied by an improvement in response rate and a delay in tumor progression and growth,” according to the FDA.

Zaltrap’s safety and effectiveness was evaluated in a randomized clinical study of 1,226 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer whose cancer grew while receiving oxaliplatin-based combination chemotherapy, or whose cancer was removed by surgery but returned within six months after receiving oxaliplatin-based combination chemotherapy for post-surgery (adjuvant) treatment. Participants received treatment until their cancer progressed or side effects became unacceptable.

The study was designed to measure overall survival, or the length of time a patient lived. Patients who were assigned to receive the Zaltrap plus FOLFIRI combination lived an average of 13.5 months compared to an average of 12 months for those receiving FOLFIRI plus placebo. A reduction in tumor size occurred in 20 percent of patients receiving the Zaltrap plus FOLFIRI combination versus 11 percent for those receiving FOLFIRI plus placebo. In addition, the clinical trial demonstrated an improvement in progression-free survival, or the time a patient lived without the cancer progressing. The progression-free survival for patients receiving the Zaltrap plus FOLFIRI combination was 6.9 months compared with 4.7 months for those receiving FOLFIRI plus placebo.

Zaltrap is being approved with an alert to patients and health care professionals that the drug can cause severe and sometimes fatal bleeding, including gastrointestinal bleeding and the development of holes in the gastrointestinal tract. Zaltrap can also make it more difficult for wounds to heal. The most common side effects observed in patients receiving Zaltrap plus FOLFIRI were decreased white blood cell count, diarrhea, mouth ulcers, fatigue, high blood pressure, increased amount of protein in the urine, weight loss, decreased appetite, abdominal pain, and headache.

Choosing the most appropriate cancer treatment is a decision that ideally involves the patient, family, and health care team.

Zaltrap was developed by Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Colorectal Cancer Prevention and Risk



Posted by Barbara Armstrong Green

Welcome. If you have had the chance to read the “My Story” post about my sister Susan’s battle with colon cancer, you may know that Susan died of colon cancer when she was 59, after a four-year battle. How could someone so seemingly healthy and vibrant be growing a silent killer in her colon and not know it? 

Colorectal cancer, which may begin in either the colon or the rectum, is the second leading cause of death from cancer in the United States.  What makes this even more tragic is that colon cancer is one of the most preventable cancers.  

If I only knew then what I know now, my sister Sue might still be alive.  As Sue’s cancer advanced and she realized that she would not beat this, Sue - ever the big sister - focused on how to turn her personal tragedy into an opportunity to save her two sisters from a similar fate.  She wanted to make sure that my sister Peggy and I (as well as other loved ones) would take steps to protect ourselves by getting screened.

We all want to have healthy lives and healthy families but how do we manage it? How do we make the daily choices that may protect us and our families from cancer? Fortunately, the National Cancer Institute has done our homework for us with a list of preventions and risks that we should all be aware of.  Some risk factors, such as smoking may be avoidable. Others, such as inheriting certain genes, may not. Avoiding risk factors and increasing protective factors may help prevent cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Below is a list of protective factors that decrease the risk of colorectal cancer:

• Physical activity: Regular physical exercise
• Aspirin: Taking aspirin every day for at least 5 years decreases the risk of colorectal cancer and the risk of death from colorectal cancer. But aspirin may increase the risk of bleeding in the stomach, intestines, or brain.
• Hormone replacement therapy (HRT): Studies have shown that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) that includes both estrogen and progesterone lowers the risk of colon cancer in postmenopausal women. HRT with estrogen alone does not lower the risk. However, hormone use increases the risk of breast cancer, heart disease, and blood clots.
• Polyp  removal: Removing colorectal polyps that are larger than one centimeter (cm) may lower the risk of colorectal cancer. It is not known if removing smaller polyps lowers the risk of colorectal cancer.  The possible harms of polyp removal during colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy include a tear in the wall of the colon and bleeding.

Below is a list of risk factors that increase the risk of colorectal cancer:

• Age: The risk of colorectal cancer increases after age 50.
• Family history of colorectal cancer: Having a parent, brother, sister, or child with colorectal cancer doubles a person’s risk of colorectal cancer.
• Personal history: Having a personal history of inflammatory bowel disease increases the risk of colorectal cancer.
• Inherited risk: The risk of colorectal cancer is increased when certain gene changes are inherited.
• Alcohol: Drinking three or more alcoholic beverages per day increases the risk of colorectal cancer. Drinking alcohol is also linked to the risk of forming large colorectal benign tumors.
• Cigarette smoking: Cigarette smoking is linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancer and death from colorectal cancer.
• Obesity: Obesity is linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancer and death from colorectal cancer.

Please take a few moments to comment on this blog and return to the Susie's Cause web site to learn more about protecting yourself and your family from this devastating disease.

Source: National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health

 

Medical Disclaimer 

The information presented on the Susan Cohan Colon Cancer web site is solely intended to provide you with information that will help educate you on the importance of diet, exercise and regular cancer screening in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Adopting these habits is an individual choice and one that should only be made after consultation with your health care professional. No information provided on this Web site or otherwise offered is intended to replace or in any way modify the advice of your health care professional.