Colon Cancer – Cancer In Plain English – Cancer Information

Can a cancer drug help treat Diabetes?

RemwesMedical — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 17:49:54 +0000

It turns out that there are signs that a current treatment for Colon Cancer may actually help people who have diabetes.

Cancer therapy – and many therapies really – can produce surprising combinations this way sometimes. We may discover, for example, that one medication which is good for one thing is actually good for something else. For example, the medication Thalidomide was discovered to cause horrible birth defects when given in England years ago for “morning sickness” but we now have discovered that this same medication is now helpful for Multiple Myeloma.

The same with a medication called Aflibercept (also known as Eylea or Zaltrap). This medication is a VEGF inhibitor which is useful in the treatment of Colon Cancer. VEGF stands for Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor. VEFG is a protein which colon cancer produces in order to make itself more blood vessels in order to feed itself better as it grows. By doing this, the tumor, as it grows, does not outgrow its blood supply. Well, Aflibercept blocks VEGF and thus makes the tumor outgrow its blood supply and starve/suffocate to death because of lack of blood supply and oxygen.

Researchers at Stanford have recently discovered that VEGF inhibitors block (as they are supposed to do) the development of new blood vessels. This then leads to decreased oxygen delivery to the cells. Decreased oxygen delivery is known as hypoxia. Hypoxia, then makes the cells to produce a substance known as HIF-2Alpha which in turn produces another protein called IRS2 which thus makes it easier for cells to absorb and work with the glucose that surrounds them. What this means is that, if this research continues to bear fruit, we may discover that it may be possible to give Aflibercept to patients with diabetes as a way to help the cells of diabetic patients to more easily absorb the glucose that surrounds them and thus, have less of the glucose swimming around their bodies (which is the problem with diabetics).

As more of this information comes forward, I will keep you informed. Mark Sperry for Cancer In Plain English

Cigarette smoking and Colon Cancer

RemwesMedical — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:47:30 +0000

Inheriting a gene that increases one’s risk for the development of cancer is like inheriting a loaded gun. That gun never needs to go off unless someone or something pulls the trigger.
When we think of cigarette smoking and the health risks that come with that activity, we think of lung cancer, emphysema and other breathing ailments; however, we typically do not think of Colon Cancer.
Well, as per an article published in February of 2010 in the journal Clinical Cancer Research that thinking may soon change.
Researchers have known for years that cigarette smoking is not only related lung cancer. It is as well associated with other cancers such as Kidney Cancer and Throat Cancer.
The findings in this recent study indicate, however, that it may as well increase the chances of developing Colon Cancer in people who inherit a gene that makes them more susceptible to the development of colon cancer.
Drs. Pandel and Lynch of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas studied a total of 752 people who were known to have inherited a gene for a form of colon cancer known as the Lynch Syndrome type of colon cancer. This form of colon cancer is also called the HNPCC syndrome. What they found is that patients who inherited the gene for this form of cancer and who smoked had a much higher chance of developing colon cancer than in patients who inherited that gene and who did not smoke – or who had quit smoking for at least 2 years or more.
The key here is that cigarette smoking seems to increase the risk of colon cancer in these people who have already inherited a gene that places them at an increased risk of cancer. As we mentioned earlier, this is comparable to having inherited a loaded gun, but it did not go off until cigarette smoking comes along and pulls the trigger.
What we can “take away” from the findings of these researchers is that cigarette smoking, although known to be harmful to the lungs can hurt us in ways that we never imagined. If, by chance, a person has inherited the gene for this form of colon cancer, does not know it AND starts to smoke cigarettes, his or her risk of colon cancer is thus increased. As such, it is important to not start smoking and if we already smoke, to do all we can to stop smoking. As we can see from this recent journal article, like a sinister and stealthy assailant, cigarette smoking can cause us harm in many and sometimes unexpected ways. All of these concepts and many more are discussed in easy to understand language in the Colon Cancer Audio CD available on the Internet web site www.CancerInPlainEnglish.com.

Colon Cancer Stages

RemwesMedical — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:14:18 +0000

When someone is discovered to have colon cancer, an important question that needs to be answered is “how much has the cancer spread by the time it was discovered”? The system that physicians have agreed upon to answer this question is by separating the amount of spread of the colon cancer into what are known as “stages”. Stages are no more than measurements of how far the cancer has spread by the time we discover it. The stages of colon cancer, from best to worst, are stage I, II, III and IV. Let’s now review the stages of colon cancer.
STAGE I. Stage I of colon cancer is a colon cancer that is discovered to only be in the lining of the colon. It has not grown very much and is still limited only to the inner lining of the intestine. A colon cancer that is found at Stage I is able to be removed with surgery. Most people who are found with Stage I colon cancer and who have surgery will be cured of their colon cancer.
STAGE II. Stage II colon cancer is a colon cancer that has grown into the wall of the colon by the time we discover it, but has not grown through the wall. Even though the colon has grown a little more than a stage I colon cancer, the cancer is still only inside the wall of the intestine. Just as in Stage I colon cancer, when a colon cancer is found at stage II, most people with stage II colon cancer who have surgery will be cured of their colon cancer. A difference between Stage II colon cancer and stage I colon cancer is that in order to cure the person, some of the patients with Stage II colon cancer will require 6 months of chemotherapy after surgery in order to be cured. By comparison, patients with Stage I colon cancer who have surgery do not need 6 months of chemotherapy following surgery.
STAGE III. Stage III colon cancer is a colon cancer that has grown through the entire wall of the intestine by the time we discover it and has spread to small structures near the intestine called the lymph nodes. Even though it has grown more than stage I or Stage II colon cancer when we find it, it is still possible to cure a person with stage III colon cancer if we remove the tumor with surgery and then give the person 6 months of chemotherapy following surgery.
STAGE IV. Stage IV colon cancer is a colon cancer that has grown so much by the time we discover it, that it has spread to other organs such as the liver or the bones or elsewhere. Unfortunately, differently than with stage I, II or III, patients who are found with Stage IV colon cancer are not able to be cured of their colon cancer. All that is possible for patients with colon cancer who are discovered with Stage IV colon cancer is to give them chemotherapy in order to try to make their time of survival with the colon cancer as comfortable as possible and in order to try to extend their lives as much as possible.
All of these concepts and more about colon cancer are covered in easy to understand language in the Colon Cancer audio CD that is available on www.CancerInPlainEnglish.com.

Colon Cancer Symptoms

RemwesMedical — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:50:13 +0000

Colon Cancer is a very important medical problem which affects thousands of people yearly. There are some clues or symptoms that a person can exhibit which may give us an early indication that that person may or may not have colon cancer. We will review some of those symptoms or findings as follows:
1. BLOOD IN THE STOOL: If someone starts to produce small amounts of blood when they have a stool (or, as is also called, a bowel movement), we need to think of the possibility of colon cancer. Actually, with small amounts of bright red blood in the stool, we need to think of Rectal Cancer more than that of Colon Cancer. Rectal Cancer is a colon cancer that is way down near the end of the intestines, near the anus. If a person has colon cancer proper, the stool is more likely to be black and tarry than red.
2.UNEXPLAINED WEIGHT LOSS: If someone has unexplained weight loss. They tell us that even though they eat regularly they just can’t seem to “keep the weight on”, we need to think of the possibility of cancer. This finding, unexplained weight loss, may be a clue not just for Colon Cancer, but as well for other cancers such as Lung Cancer, Pancreas Cancer and other cancers. Nevertheless, we need to keep colon cancer in mind if there is an unexplained weight loss.
3. THIN STOOLS THAT “LOOK LIKE A RIBBON”. If a person tells us that his or her stools have become very thin and “like a pencil” or “like a ribbon”, we need to think of colon cancer or more specifically, rectal cancer. This is because the cancer can be narrowing the rectum as the stool tries to exit and it makes the stool very thin and “pencil like”.
4. SEVERE FATIGUE. A person with colon cancer is very possibly very tired because of the slow but constant loss of blood in the colon. This slow but steady loss of blood over months and perhaps years, causes a severe loss of blood which is known as an “Anemia”. Anemia, in turn, makes the person feel very tired and even short of breath at times.
5. ABDOMINAL PAIN: Colon cancer can present with pain in the abdomen. This is not a usual sign for colon cancer, but it is possible. Typically, if a colon cancer presents with pain in the abdomen, this indicates that the cancer has grown very much before it was discovered.
All of the signs and symptoms and concepts mentioned above are covered in clear, easy to understand language in the Colon Cancer audio CD available on www.CancerInPlainEnglish.com