The most common bowel cancer treatment is surgery.
The surgeon removes the tumor and surrounding lymph nodes guts. This is necessary to prevent the spread of tumors.
Typically, the surgeon removes the part of colon and connects formed ends with each other. When this is impossible, intestine is being exteriorized on the front abdominal wall. In most cases, this is only the first stage of operation; in the second phase the ends of intestine are connected with each other, restoring the continuity of intestinal tubes and normal way of allocating stool. However, approximately 10% of patients are living with withdrawn intestine.
Sometimes, after the surgery, radiotherapy (radiation) or chemotherapy (anti-cancer drugs) is appointed to destroy the remaining cancer cells.
Treatment success depends largely on the characteristics of an organism, bowel cancer symptoms and the timing of diagnosis of cancer. If the cancer does not extend beyond the intestine, the chances of survival are 99%. They are reduced to 85% if invasion to the wall occurred, up to 66% – with the involvement of local lymph nodes and up to 35% – in the distribution to distant lymph nodes.bowelcancersymptoms.org
This network recognizes certain cancer cells using logic combinations of five cancer-specific molecular factors, triggering cancer cells destruction. www.topix.com
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Blocking key proteins could improve response to a common chemotherapy drug, suggests a new study which used cancer cells grown in the lab. www.sciencedaily.com
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(IDIBELL-Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute) Like snakes, tumor cells shed their skin. Cancer is not a static disease but during its development the disease accumulates changes to evade natural defenses adapting to new environmental circumstances, protecting against chemotherapy and radiotherapy and invading neighboring organs, eventually causing metastasis. www.eurekalert.org
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The targeted drug Xalkori™ (crizotinib) has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of advanced non-small lung cancer that has an abnormal version of the ALK gene.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the US and around the world, highlighting the importance of developing effective new approaches to treatment.
Up to 7% non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) have an abnormal version of the ALK gene. Lung cancers with this abnormality typically occur in non-smokers. The abnormal gene contributes to the growth and development of cancer cells.
Xalkori is an oral medication that blocks the protein produced by the abnormal ALK gene. The drug has been evaluated in two studies that enrolled a total of 255 patients with late-stage, ALK-positive NSCLC. ALK status is determined by testing a sample of tumor tissue.
In one of the studies, half the patients responded to treatment (had a partial or complete disappearance of detectable cancer). In the other study, 61% of patients responded to treatment. The most common side effects of Xalkori were vision disorders (such as visual impairment, flashes of light, and blurred vision), nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, swelling (edema), and constipation.
Xalkori was approved under the FDA’s accelerated approval program. This program allows patients early access to promising drugs, but the company that produces the drug will need to conduct additional studies to confirm a benefit.
A test to detect ALK abnormalities was approved at the same time as Xalkori.
Reference: US Food and Drug Administration News Release. FDA approves Xalkori with companion diagnostic for a type of late-stage lung cancer. August 26, 2011.news.cancerconnect.com
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