Early Palliative Care Increases Survival Time

Should cancer care focused on quality of life wait until all treatment ends?  Or can it be integrated with medical treatment as soon as someone is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness?

In a study of 150 advanced lung cancer patients, starting palliative care along with standard life-prolonging treatment when patients were first diagnosed not only improved their mood and quality of life, it actually increased the time they lived.

Although patients who received early palliative care received less aggressive treatment at the end of life, they lived almost 3 months longer than patients who didn’t have such early support. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on August 23rd, 2010
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Tags: hospice, palliative care, survival

No Difference in Chemotherapy Benefits for Young Patients with Stage II and III Colon Cancer Compared to Those Fifty and Older

Young patients with stage II or III colon cancer get equal benefit from chemotherapy as older patients, and they have similar side effects.

Five years after treatment, 67 percent of patients under the age of fifty hadn’t had their cancer spread beyond the colon (recurrence-free interval), the same percentage that applied to patients who were fifty or over.

Overall survival and disease-free survival were somewhat better for young patients because they had fewer other reasons for dying.  Overall and disease-free survival reflect patients who are alive five years after beginning treatment.  Neither includes people who have died from any cause, including their cancer. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on June 10th, 2010
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Tags: stage II colon cancer, stage III colon cancer, survival, young patients

Colorectal Cancer Research Briefs: Patients want colonoscopy videos

Briefly

• Hormone replacement therapy reduces risk of colon cancer.
• Smoking before age 30 increases chances that colon cancer will recur.
• Low CEA levels improve both survival and disease-free survival for stage II colon cancer.
• Most patients want videos of their colonoscopies and are willing to pay for them. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on February 10th, 2010
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | 1 Comment »
Tags: CEA, colonoscopy, hormone replacement therapy, recurrence, survival

Patient Outcomes Vary Depending on Liver Resectability

Patients with stage IV colorectal cancer live longer when tumors in their liver can be removed surgically, but not all patients have cancer that can be operated on.

Separating patients with liver tumors from colorectal cancer into three groups according to possible liver resectability, British doctors found a wide variation in both overall survival and progression-free survival three years later. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on January 29th, 2010
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Tags: liver metastases, liver resection, survival

Which Side of the Colon Matters

More evidence is emerging that right-sided colon cancers are different in significant ways from those on the left side.

Information from 17,641 colon cancer patients in the German Colon/Rectum Cancer Study Group found that people with cancers on the right side of the colon were older, had more chronic illness, and were more likely to be women.  There were significantly more deaths in this group. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on January 17th, 2010
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Tags: right-sided tumors, survival