Colorectal Cancer

New drug may help immune system fight cancer

(HealthDay)—An experimental drug that taps the power of the body's immune system to fight cancer is shrinking tumors in patients for whom other treatments have failed, an early study shows.

Cancer created May 16, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Fitness in middle age may help shield men from cancer later

(HealthDay)—Men who are physically fit in middle age have a lower risk of developing and dying from certain cancers, new research indicates.

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Cancer survivors battle with the blues

Depressed cancer survivors are twice as likely to die prematurely than those who do not suffer from depression, irrespective of the cancer site. That's according to a new study, by Floortje Mols and colleagues, from Tilburg ...

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Free testosterone drives cancer aggressiveness, study finds

What is the reason for the widely reported fact that men are more likely than women to die of cancer? New evidence from population studies suggests that free testosterone could be a key driver of cancer aggressiveness in ...

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Primary care physicians vital to complete care of prostate cancer patients

Androgen deprivation therapy is a common and effective treatment for advanced prostate cancer. However, among other side-effects, it can cause significant bone thinning in men on long-term treatment. A new study¹ by Vahakn ...

Cancer created May 14, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1


Colorectal cancer, commonly known as bowel cancer, is a cancer from uncontrolled cell growth in the colon, rectum, or appendix. Symptoms typically include rectal bleeding and anemia which are sometimes associated with weight loss and changes in bowel habits.

Most colorectal cancer occurs due to lifestyle and increasing age with only a minority of cases associated with underlying genetic disorders. It typically starts in the lining of the bowel and if left untreated, can grow into the muscle layers underneath, and then through the bowel wall. Screening is effective at decreasing the chance of dying from colorectal cancer and is recommended starting at the age of 50 and continuing until a person is 75 years old. Localized bowel cancer is usually diagnosed through sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy.

Cancers that are confined within the wall of the colon are often curable with surgery while cancer that has spread widely around the body is usually not curable and management then focuses on extending the person's life via chemotherapy and improving quality of life. Colorectal cancer is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer in the world, but it is more common in developed countries. Around 60% of cases were diagnosed in the developed world. It is estimated that worldwide, in 2008, 1.23 million new cases of colorectal cancer were clinically diagnosed, and that it killed 608,000 people.

This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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