Colorecal Cancer: Minimally Invasive, Triple-Therapy Patch Destroys Tumors

Research released by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology describes an adhesive patch that can deliver a triple-combination of drug, gene, and light-based therapy to colorectal tumors.

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women in the United States. The lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer is 1 in 21 for men and 1 in 23 for women.

Most colorectal cancers begin as a growth, or tumor, on the inner lining of the colon or rectum called a polyp, and they can change to cancer over many years. Not all polyps become cancer.

It usually takes around 10-15 years for abnormal cells to grow into colorectal tumors. With regular screening, polyps can be removed before they develop into cancer.

Although the type of treatment for colorectal cancer largely depends on the stage of cancer, treatment options are often surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.

Read more: Colorecal Cancer: Minimally Invasive, Triple-Therapy Patch Destroys Tumors

The triple-therapy patch could be used to treat any remaining cancer cells at the tumor site after surgery.

Source: medicalnewstoday

Colon Cancer Susceptibility May Vary With Gut Microbes

There is mounting evidence that interactions between our genes and environment can give rise to cancer. Plus, more recently, it has become clear that the environment is not just around us, but also within us, in the form of the trillions of microbes that inhabit our bodies and outnumber our own cells. Now, a new study of rats supports a growing body of evidence that the microbes in our gut do more than help us digest food, they may also affect our susceptibility to colon cancer.

The study, from the University of Missouri in Columbia, features at The Allied Genetic Conference 2016 (TAGC) in Orlando, FL, July 13-17, 2016.

Increasingly, researchers are discovering that cancer is linked to changes in the gut microbes living in our intestines - what is known as the gut microbiota, and commonly referred to as gut bacteria.

For instance, a study published recently suggests gut bacteria may have a role in bile duct cancer.

Read more: Colon Cancer Susceptibility May Vary With Gut Microbes

The study, which was done in rats, suggests the type of microbiota in the gut may
influence susceptibility to colon cancer.

Source: medicalnewstoday

Eating Walnuts May Help Prevent Colon Cancer

A team of researchers from UConn Health and The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine found that eating walnuts can reduce one's risk of getting colon cancer.

In the study, mice that were fed walnuts (totaling seven percent to 10.5 percent of their total calories) developed fewer instances of colon cancer.

Seven to 10.5 percent of daily total calories coming from walnuts is equivalent to a human eating about an ounce of walnuts every day.

Walnut consumption

"Our results show for the first time that walnut consumption may reduce colon tumor development," said Daniel W. Rosenberg of UConn Health, principal investigator on the study.

Read more: Eating Walnuts May Help Prevent Colon Cancer

Could walnuts be the key to preventing colon cancer?

Source: medicalnewstoday

Colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer had a low incidence several decades ago. However, it has become a predominant cancer and now accounts for approximately 10% of cancer-related mortality in western countries. The ‘rise’ of colorectal cancer in developed countries can be attributed to the increasingly ageing population, unfavourable modern dietary habits and an increase in risk factors, such as smoking, low physical exercise and obesity. New treatments for primary and metastatic colorectal cancer have emerged, providing additional options for patients; these treatments include laparoscopic surgery for primary disease, more-aggressive resection of metastatic disease (such as liver and pulmonary metastases), radiotherapy for rectal cancer, and neoadjuvant and palliative chemotherapies. However, these new treatment options have had limited impact on cure rates and long-term survival. For these reasons, and the recognition that colorectal cancer is long preceded by a polypoid precursor, screening programmes have gained momentum. This Primer provides an overview of the current state of the art of knowledge on the epidemiology and mechanisms of colorectal cancer, as well as on diagnosis and treatment.

Introduction

We live in an era with improved worldwide average living standards and increased access to adequate health care that has considerably improved the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. These measures have had an effect on the average life expectancy in most regions of the world. However, although death rates from communicable diseases have improved globally as a result of these medical improvements, cancer-related mortality has increased by almost 40% over the past 40 years. A further 60% increase is expected in the next 15 years, with 13 million people estimated to die of cancer in 2030. The main causes of cancer-related mortality have also changed, attributable to alterations in disease incidence, the introduction of screening programmes and therapeutic improvements. Colorectal cancer was rather rare in 1950, but has become a predominant cancer in western countries, now accounting for approximately 10% of cancer-related mortality. Reasons explaining this increased incidence include an ageing population and the preponderance of poor dietary habits, smoking, low physical activity and obesity in western countries. The change in incidence is not only apparent in the rates of sporadic disease but also in some familial cancer syndromes. Indeed, given that the rates of Helicobacter pyloriinfection (a causative factor of gastric cancer) have fallen dramatically, colorectal cancer is now the predominant presentation of Lynch syndrome (a hereditary non-polyposis type of colorectal cancer), whereas carriers of this syndrome used to be predominantly affected by gastric cancer.

Read more: Colorectal cancer

Source: krmc

Novel Genomic Analysis of Immune Cell Infiltration in Colorectal Cancer

The past several years have seen some exciting results for cancer immunotherapy. However, there remains a fundamental lack of understanding of immune system recognition in various cancers. Many large-scale sequencing efforts have added to our collective knowledge base, but too many of these studies have been deficient in comprehensive epidemiological and demographic information.

Now, researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard report on their findings from a new study, which found that colorectal cancers festooned with tumor-related proteins called neoantigens were likely to be saturated with disease-fighting white blood cells, mainly lymphocytes.

Using several data sets from patients in two large health-tracking studies, the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, investigators performed whole-exome sequencing on colorectal tumor samples from 619 patients—itemizing each DNA base that specifies how cell proteins are to be constructed. This information was merged with data from tests of the immune system's response to the tumors and with patient clinical data, including length of survival.

Read more: Novel Genomic Analysis of Immune Cell Infiltration in Colorectal Cancer

Through whole-exome sequencing of colorectal tumors, researchers were able to identify additional driver

genes that correlate high neoantigen load with increased lymphocytic infiltration and improved survival.

Source: Giannakis et al., 2016, Cell Reports 15, 1–9