http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (HealthDay)—Smoking is tied to significantly shorter disease-free survival (DFS) and time to recurrence (TTR) in patients undergoing treatment for stage III colon cancer, according to a study published April 1 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-worsens-outcomes-advanced-colon-cancer.html Cancer Sat, 06 Apr 2013 06:20:01 EST news284445806 Among patients with painful chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, use of the anti-depressant drug duloxetine for 5 weeks resulted in a greater reduction in pain compared with placebo, according to a study in the April 3 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-medication-duloxetine-pain-chemotherapy.html Cancer Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:00:05 EST news284130084 (HealthDay)—For patients with stage 2 to 3 colon cancer, the addition of bevacizumab to modified fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX6) does not prolong disease-free or overall survival, according to a study published online Dec. 10 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-bevacizumab-doesnt-prolong-survival-stage.html Cancer Wed, 12 Dec 2012 04:54:48 EST news274510470 (Medical Xpress)—A new type of molecular switch can boost common chemotherapy drugs to destroy bowel cancer cells, according to research presented today (Monday) at the NCRI Cancer Conference in Liverpool. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-molecular-volume-bowel-cancer-treatment.html Cancer Mon, 05 Nov 2012 08:30:06 EST news271326585 Giving some bowel cancer patients six weeks of chemotherapy before surgery can significantly shrink their tumour, making it easier to remove and potentially reducing the chances of the cancer coming back, according to results from a major Cancer Research UK-funded pilot study published this month in Lancet Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-bowel-cancer-chemo-swap-tumours.html Cancer Thu, 01 Nov 2012 10:06:05 EST news270983151 A new drug treatment could offer hope to patients with advanced colorectal cancer who were intolerant of or did not respond to standard treatments, according to an article published in the Lancet Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-drug-trial-patients-advanced-colorectal.html Cancer Mon, 27 Aug 2012 18:30:01 EST news265298306 (HealthDay) -- For elderly patients with colon cancer or those with stage II disease, the addition of oxaliplatin to fluorouracil with leucovorin (FL) does not seem to offer any survival benefit, according to a study published online Aug. 20 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-benefit-adjuvant-oxaliplatin-stage-ii.html Cancer Tue, 21 Aug 2012 14:30:03 EST news264774167 (HealthDay) -- Treating patients with surgically unresectable metastatic colon cancer and an asymptomatic intact primary tumor with bevacizumab and infusional fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (mFOLFOX6) chemotherapy is a viable and safe option, according to research published online Aug. 6 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-nonoperative-approach-feasible-advanced-colon.html Cancer Thu, 09 Aug 2012 11:42:53 EST news263731366 (HealthDay) -- Zaltrap (ziv-afilbercept) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in combination with a FOLFIRI chemotherapy regimen for adults with advanced metastatic (spreading) colorectal cancer, the agency said Friday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-zaltrap-advanced-colorectal-cancer.html Medications Sat, 04 Aug 2012 06:30:01 EST news263278092 (HealthDay) -- For most patients with locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma (LAPC), induction with a combination of gemcitabine and oxaliplatin (GEMOX) followed by chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is feasible, resulting in clinical benefit, a chance of resectability, and improved survival, according to a study published online July 6 in Cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-induction-chemo-beneficial-locally-advanced.html Cancer Tue, 17 Jul 2012 15:06:05 EST news261756301 (HealthDay) -- Continuing use of bevacizumab (Avastin) in combination with second-line chemotherapy improves overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) who have progressed after discontinuation of first-line bevacizumab and chemotherapy, according to the results of a phase III study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, held from June 1 to 5 in Chicago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-asco-avastin-2nd-line-chemo-ups.html Cancer Tue, 05 Jun 2012 13:30:01 EST news258120168 The antidepressant drug duloxetine, known commercially as Cymbalta, helped relieve painful tingling feelings caused by chemotherapy in 59 percent of patients, a new study finds. This is the first clinical trial to find an effective treatment for this pain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-antidepressant-relieve-pain-chemotherapy.html Cancer Mon, 04 Jun 2012 00:20:07 EST news257925118 (HealthDay) -- Many primary care doctors don't know the long-term side effects of the chemotherapy treatments that cancer survivors under their care may have been given, a new survey found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-primary-docs-dont-long-term-effects.html Cancer Thu, 17 May 2012 06:00:01 EST news256450550 Adding the drug cetuximab to a regimen of drugs used for the treatment of patients following surgery for stage III colon cancer did not result in improved disease-free survival, according to a study in the April 4 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-adding-drug-chemotherapy-colon-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:02:50 EST news252687759 The drug oxaliplatin is a major reason the prognosis for metastatic colon cancer has gone from an expected survival of several months to a couple years. Unfortunately, the drug can also carry with it debilitating neurological side effects, which generally start as the sensation of pins and needles in fingers and toes and can leave patients unable to walk or dress independently. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-oxaliplatin-dose-neurological-side-effects.html Cancer Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:22:32 EST news247411344 Stage III colon cancer patients in the general population who receive adjuvant treatment for the disease have an improved rate of survival when oxaliplatin is added to 5-fluorouracil (5FU), according to a study published Jan. 20 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-oxaliplatin-colon-cancer-patient-survival.html Cancer Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:53:32 EST news246304402 (Medical Xpress) -- Oxaliplatin, a platinum-based anticancer drug that’s made enormous headway in recent years against colorectal cancer, appears to cause nerve damage that may be permanent and worsens even months after treatment ends. The chemotherapy side effect, described by Johns Hopkins researchers in the September issue of Neurology, was discovered in what is believed to be the first effort to track oxaliplatin-based nerve damage through relatively cheap and easy punch skin biopsies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-popular-colorectal-cancer-drug-permanent.html Neuroscience Wed, 28 Sep 2011 09:20:01 EST news236417447 Rectal cancer patients who use a new combination of the chemotherapy, Capecitabine, together with five weeks of radiation (50 Gy) before surgery have an 88 percent chance of surviving the cancer three years after treatment, according to randomized trial presented at the plenary session, October 3, 2011, at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-chemo-surgery-tumor-response-rectal.html Cancer Mon, 26 Sep 2011 13:36:38 EST news236262991 A University of Illinois study reports a promising new weapon in treating metastatic colon cancer, particularly in patients who have developed resistance to chemotherapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-soy-peptide-chemo-drug-block.html Cancer Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:36:19 EST news235661708