Imagine if doctors could diagnose their patients with lung or esophageal cancer by simply swabbing the inside of their cheeks. Vadim Backman, a biomedical engineer at Northwestern University, has developed a new technology that could make that seemingly simple solution a reality.
Older patients with colorectal cancer are at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease and congestive heart failure, according to a study published in Journal of Clinical Oncology. The study also finds that morbidities such as diabetes and hypertension negatively interact with chemotherapy designated for colorectal cancer, which adds to the patient’s increased risk for cardiovascular morbidity.
It’s well known that a morning cup of joe jolts you awake. But scientists have discovered coffee affects your metabolism in dozens of other ways, including your metabolism of steroids and the neurotransmitters typically linked to cannabis, reports a new study from Northwestern Medicine. In a study of coffee consumption, Northwestern scientists were surprised to discover coffee changed many more metabolites in the blood than previously known.
In a study that has implications for humans with inflammatory diseases, researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and colleagues have found that, given over a six-week period, the artificial sweetener sucralose, known by the brand name Splenda, worsens gut inflammation in mice with Crohn’s-like disease, but had no substantive effect on those without the condition. Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease of the digestive tract, which can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, bloody stools, weight loss, and fatigue. About 10-15 percent of human patients report that sweeteners worsen their disease.
Tim Muldoon, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, has received a $500,000 Faculty Early Career Development Program award from the National Science Foundation to continue his work on an endoscopic probe that can be used in colonoscopies. The device is intended to provide superior images of living tissue within the gastrointestinal tract and other structures.
Hackensack Meridian Health Riverview Medical Center located in Red Bank, today announced the launch of a Digestive Care Center to treat the full spectrum of digestive diseases. Located in the Ambulatory Care Center at Riverview Medical Center, the Digestive Care Center treats all aspects of digestive diseases and offers comprehensive and personalized care through highly skilled physicians and innovative technologies.
Having a colonoscopy to screen for colorectal cancer is not on anyone’s list of favorite activities. However, with colorectal cancer ranking as the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States, undergoing the outpatient procedure as per the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) guidelines may be one of the smartest things you can do for your overall health.
A new study indicates that the kinds of microbes living in the gut influence the severity and recurrence of parasitic worm infections in developing countries. The findings, by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, suggest that manipulating the gut’s microbial communities may protect against intestinal parasites, which affect more than 1 billion people worldwide.
It’s the second-most common cancer killer in the U.S., but misconceptions about colorectal cancer can keep people from accessing the preventive care and treatment they might need. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center experts address some of the most misunderstood aspects of this disease.
In a study published in the April issue of Diseases of the Colon & Rectum, researchers present results of a study designed to identify factors associated with disparities in colorectal cancer care. They studied a group of 30 primary minority, lower income patients who had been diagnosed with advanced colorectal cancer. Participants were interviewed regarding their perceptions and experiences of colorectal cancer and barriers they faced in seeking diagnosis and treatment. al cancer.”
The bacteria in your gut do more than simply help digest your food. The microorganisms living in your digestive tract can also influence your overall health.
With colorectal cancer tabbed as the third leading cause of cancer death among both men and women in the nation, experts from Rutgers Cancer Institute discuss the benefits of screening.
A pancreas transplant cured Anthony Law of his life-threatening "brittle" diabetes. Before his transplant, Mr. Law had extreme swings in blood sugar levels. His family had to wake him up every two hours to ensure his sugars were in a normal range. Today, he is off insulin and his blood sugars are steady.
Most people know doctors recommend a colonoscopy at age 50 to screen for colorectal cancers. What they might not realize is that earlier screening may be necessary if they have a family history of colorectal cancer or other diseases.
Yesterday Fight Colorectal Cancer rang the NASDAQ opening bell alongside survivors and partners from the PGA TOUR in Tucson and also from the Times Square NASDAQ tower on the heels of March, Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Today, the country’s leading advocacy organization is launching into a month-long awareness campaign alongside survivors and their loved ones, including survivor Kevin Jonas, Sr., and his wife Denise, showing it takes courage to fight cancer.
A new, large study led by researchers at Yale Cancer Center shows people with stage III colon cancer who regularly eat nuts are at significantly lower risk of cancer recurrence and mortality than those who don’t.
Innovation and progress in cancer research and care are the result of collaboration and resources. This advancement also extends to cancer prevention and education, but more emphasis on these areas is needed -- especially when it comes to colorectal cancer. So say the directors of both Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Rutgers Cancer Institute at University Hospital.
A new computational resource called Recon3D provides a 3D view of genes, proteins and metabolites involved in human metabolism. Researchers used the tool to map disease-related mutations on proteins and also probed how genes and proteins change in response to certain drugs. The work provides a better understanding of disease-causing mutations and could enable researchers to discover new uses for existing drug treatments.
New research published in the Feb. 23 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry identifies an enzyme that turns off transglutaminase 2, potentially paving the way for new treatments for celiac disease.
In what is believed to be the largest pancreatic cancer genome-wide association study to date, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and the National Cancer Institute, and collaborators from over 80 other institutions worldwide discovered changes to five new regions in the human genome that may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that when mature cells transition to begin dividing again, they all seem to do it the same way, regardless of what organ those cells come from.
Researchers at Stanford University are studying how bacteria living in the gut respond to common changes within their habitat, working with mice. They change the gut environment within the mice, and then measure which bacterial species survive the change and how the gut environment itself has changed. They also study the physiological response of the bacteria -- if they grow faster or slower, or produce different proteins. The work was presented during the Biophysical Society Meeting, held Feb. 17-21.
It takes an average of 3.5 years to diagnose celiac disease in patients who do not report gastrointestinal symptoms, a Loyola Medicine study has found. Patients who reported gastrointestinal symptoms were diagnosed in an average of 2.3 months.
New guidelines developed collaboratively by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) offer clinicians much needed recommendations for assessment and management of side effects related to immune checkpoint inhibitors.
In the March issue of Diseases of the Colon & Rectum, Philip Gordon MD, a past president of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons and author of one of the field’s major textbooks, describes his personal experiences on the “receiving” end of chemotherapy. This is in contrast to dispensing advice to colorectal cancer patients on whether or not to pursue chemotherapy, something he had done for most of his career as a colon and rectal surgeon.
In the March issue of Diseases of the Colon & Rectum, surgeons from Australia discuss postoperative pain control pain control following one of the most extensive operations performed for pelvic cancer. In an era where many studies have shown that patients do better after surgery with use of lesser amounts of opioid pain medication, this can be particularly challenging in those patients who have taken a significant amount of pain medication before surgery. This is exactly what was shown in this study.
In the March issue of Diseases of the Colon & Rectum, surgeons from Birmingham, England, studied 5 years of National Health Service data of patients admitted for acute diverticulitis in an effort to identify factors associated with the need for elective or emergency surgery. The authors quote 2004 statistics citing that diverticular disease is responsible for over 300,000 annual hospital admissions and 1.5 million days of inpatient care at a cost of $ 2.6 billion!
It’s well known that the human body functions on a 24-hour, or circadian, schedule. The up-and-down daily cycles of a long-studied clock protein called Rev-erb coordinates the ebb and flow of gene expression by tightening and loosening loops in chromosomes, according to new research.
According to 2015 National Health Interview Survey data published by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, it is estimated that about 85% of children under the age of 18 are in excellent or very good health. What happens to the rest? Many are considered “Children with Special Healthcare Needs” (CSHCN) and have special health care requirements, perhaps due to common chronic conditions of childhood such as asthma, autism spectrum disorders, or uncommon ones as described in the March issue of Diseases of the Colon & Rectum. Dr. Sarah Cairo and her colleagues from the Delivery of Surgical Care Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Section on Surgery, discuss the unique situation facing pediatric patients with congenital anal rectal malformations as they grow older and face the transition from pediatric to adult health care. This article and topic have wide-reaching implications for countless other medical problems that affect the pediatric age group.
Before medical science can bioengineer human organs in a lab for therapeutic use, two remaining hurdles are ensuring genetic stability—so the organs are free from the risk of tumor growth—and producing organ tissues of sufficient volume and size for viable transplant into people. Scientists report in Stem Cell Reports achieving both goals with a new production method for bioengineered human gut and liver tissues.
While cancer treatment advances are being made in precision medicine and immunotherapy, a unique combination of traditional therapies can also provide some patients benefit. A Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey expert shares more about an approach combining cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic chemotherapy for cancers that have spread to the abdominal cavity.
Paul E. Oberstein, MD, a nationally renowned clinician-scientist, will join NYU Langone Health and its Perlmutter Cancer Center on March 1 as director of Gastrointestinal (GI) Medical Oncology and assistant director of its recently established Pancreatic Cancer Center.
Patients with an inherited form of colon cancer harbor two bacterial species that collaborate to encourage development of the disease, and the same species have been found in people who develop a sporadic form of colon cancer, a study led by a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy research team finds.
Nurhan Torun, MD, an accomplished ophthalmologist internationally recognized for her expertise in ocular motility disorders, has been named Chief of Ophthalmology in the Department of Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).
Mesenteric ischemia and infarction (MI) are infrequent but often deadly conditions in acute and critically ill patients, with a mortality rate of 50 to 60 percent. By considering the uncommon diagnosis in patient assessment and evaluation, nurses can help identify patients at risk more quickly so appropriate diagnostics and interventions may ensue.
In breakthrough colon cancer research, scientists at Christiana Care Health System’s Center for Translational Cancer Research (CTCR) of the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute have discovered that over-expression of HOXA4 and HOXA9 genes in colon cancer stem cells promotes cell replication and contributes to the overpopulation of stem cells that drives colon cancer development.
The findings suggest treatment with vitamin A derivatives, called retinoid drugs, could provide a therapeutic strategy for decreasing the expression of these HOX genes and for targeting highly resistant cancer stem cells.
“See every obstacle as an opportunity in life.” That’s just some of the advice packed into a new campaign by Fight Colorectal Cancer featuring Texas Rangers third-base coach Tony Beasley.
Although the incidence of appendicitis in the United States has been in decline for many years, the condition still affects approximately seven percent of Americans annually.
Colorectal and bariatric surgery patients benefited from an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) program, leaving the hospital sooner and requiring fewer opioids to control pain, according to new research presented at the American Society of Anesthesiologists PRACTICE MANAGEMENT 2018 meeting.
UCLA scientists found that boosting mice's cholesterol levels spurred intestinal stem cells to divide more quickly, enabling tumors to form faster. The study identifies a new drug target for colon cancer treatment.