Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States for both men and women combined. The disease surpasses both breast and prostate cancer in mortality, second only to lung cancer in numbers of cancer deaths.
Despite the fact that it is highly preventable, it is estimated that approximately 145,290 new cases of colorectal cancer will be diagnosed in 2005 and an estimated 56,290 people will die from the disease. Because many people are embarrassed to talk about this disease.
Most cases of the disease begin as non-cancerous polyps, grape-like growths on the lining of the colon and rectum. These polyps can become cancerous.
Removing these polyps can prevent colorectal cancer from ever developing. Approximately 90% of colorectal cancers and deaths are thought to be preventable.
Because there are often no symptoms related to polyps, it is important to be routinely screened.
Conditions that suggest Colon Cancer
Stomach Polyps
Records of more than 78,000 patients showed no association between the presence of fundic gland polyps and high-grade dysplasia or cancer in the colon, reported Cristian Robiou, M.D., of Caris Diagnostics in Irving, Tex., in an oral presentation at the American College of Gastroenterology meeting.
“The suggestion that the finding of a sporadic fundic gland polyp should trigger a colonoscopy cannot be supported,” Dr. Robiou asserted. [John Gever, Staff Writer, MedPage Today Published: October 08, 2008]
Risk factors for Colon Cancer
Dysbiosis, Bacterial
A putrefaction dysbiosis is accompanied by an increase in fecal concentrations of various bacterial enzymes which metabolize bile acids to tumor promoters.
Trace/significant amounts of occult blood or history of occult blood
Counter Indicators
Absence of occult blood
Colon Cancer suggests the following may be present
Dysbiosis, Bacterial
A putrefaction dysbiosis is accompanied by an increase in fecal concentrations of various bacterial enzymes which metabolize bile acids to tumor promoters.
Colon Cancer can lead to
Recommendations for Colon Cancer
Mistletoe (Viscum album)
The news (Dec 11, 2012) of a potential new cure could all the same come as a relief to many at-risk American patients of both genders, as according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, colon cancer is the second leading type of cancer that affects men and women in the United States.
Mistletoe’s potential alternate use was reportedly discovered by student Zahra Lotfollahi, who completed a research project comparing three different types of mistletoe extract to chemotherapy on colon cancer cells. She additionally compared the impact of mistletoe extract and chemotherapy on healthy cells, the news website learned.
Lotfollahi found that one type of mistletoe extract known as Fraxini was not only highly effective in combating colon cancer cells, but was also gentler on healthy cells than chemotherapy.
“Of the three extracts tested, and compared with chemotherapy, Fraxini was the only one that showed a reduced impact on healthy intestinal cells,” she was quoted as saying. “This is an important result because we know that chemotherapy is effective as killing healthy cells as well as cancer cells.”
She noted that the mistletoe chemical could come with its own set of negative side effects, including ulcers in the mouth and hair loss.
According to her supervisor, Professor Gordon Howarth:
“Although mistletoe grown on the ash tree was the most effective of the three extracts tested, there is a possibility that mistletoe grown on other, as yet untested, trees or plants could be even more effective.
“This is just the first important step in what we hope will lead to further research, and eventually clinical trials, of mistletoe extract in Australia,”
Howarth claims the extract has been available in Europe and other countries overseas, but not in the the United States or Australia, hence the need for research. I’m sure much has to do with big pharma, since there’s not any money to be made with natural alternatives, but hopefully something will come of this.
Conventional Drugs / Information
The results of a study on colon cancer patients may provide enough compelling evidence to convince oncologists that cimetidine is an effective adjuvant therapy in colon cancer. [Cimetidine increases survival of colorectal cancer patients with high levels of sialyl Lewis-X and sialyl Lewis-A epitope expression on tumour cells. Brit J Can 2002 (86): pp. 161-167]
Cimetidine appears to act as an immune stimulator as well as reducing the likelihood of metastases. It was found that cimetidine does inhibit the ability of cancer cells to attach to vascular endothelium. It was then discovered that cimetidine inhibits the expression of E-selectin (ELAM-1) which is one of the molecules in blood vessels that cancer cells adhere to using their own cell surface ligands, Lewis X and Lewis A. The adhering of cancer cells to E-selectin on a blood vessel wall initiates the metastatic process.
As much as 70% of colon cancers examined have expressed high levels of these Lewis antigens. Other cancers such as breast and pancreatic have been demonstrated to express these Lewis antigens also. Cancer cells in the bloodstream that express Lewis X or Lewis A antigens can’t bind to the blood vessels and establish a metastatic tumor. These cells are instead eventually eliminated.
In order to determine the Lewis antigen expression of your cancer cells, contact IMPATH Laboratories, 521 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019. Phone: 1-800-447-5816
LEF
Hydrazine Sulfate
See the link between Cancer (General) and Hydrazine Sulfate.
Digestive Enzymes / (Trial)
A large study of patients with colorectal cancer who had previously undergone traditional therapies found that the addition of oral enzyme therapy (Wobe Mugos) improved their quality of life by reducing signs and symptoms of disease as well as reducing the adverse reactions to chemotherapy. [Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 200l;47(Suppl.): pp.S55-63]
Selenium
Selenium supplementation was reported to improve immune function in colon cancer patients, but no long-term follow-up was done to evaluate whether these patients ultimately lived longer or fared better.
Surgery
A study presented at the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons’ annual meeting found that receiving short-term radiation therapy before rectal cancer surgery benefits patients. The data came from the Swedish Rectal Cancer Trial, which examined more than 900 patients who received a surgical resection intended to cure rectal cancer. Some patients had surgery alone. Others had radiation first. The patients who received radiation first, enjoyed longer overall survival and lower recurrence rates.
The group that received preoperative radiation had a 72% cancer-specific survival rate, as opposed to 62% in the surgery-only group. The radiation group had a 9% local recurrence rate, as opposed to a 26% local recurrence rate in the surgery-only group.
Vitamin E
Supplementation with vitamin E at 750IU per day before chemotherapy or radiation increased CD4/CD8 ratio and production of T helper 1 cytokines in 12 patients with Dukes C and D colorectal cancer. [Clin Cancer Res 2002;8(6): pp.1772-1778]
Key
| Weak or unproven link |
| Strong or generally accepted link |
| Proven definite or direct link |
| Weakly counter-indicative |
| Strongly counter-indicative |
| May do some good |
| Likely to help |
| Highly recommended |
Glossary
Colorectal Cancer
A cancerous tumor of the large intestine. It is marked by dark, sticky stools containing blood and a change in bowel habits.
Prostate
The prostate gland in men that surrounds the neck of the bladder and the urethra and produces a secretion that liquefies coagulated semen.
Cancer
Refers to the various types of malignant neoplasms that contain cells growing out of control and invading adjacent tissues, which may metastasize to distant tissues.
Polyp
A usually nonmalignant growth or tumor protruding from the mucous lining of an organ such as the nose, bladder or intestine, often causing obstruction.
Colon
The part of the large intestine that extends to the rectum. The colon takes the contents of the small intestine, moving them to the rectum by contracting.
Dysplasia
Abnormal development of tissue.
Enzymes
Specific protein catalysts produced by the cells that are crucial in chemical reactions and in building up or synthesizing most compounds in the body. Each enzyme performs a specific function without itself being consumed. For example, the digestive enzyme amylase acts on carbohydrates in foods to break them down.
Metabolism
The chemical processes of living cells in which energy is produced in order to replace and repair tissues and maintain a healthy body. Responsible for the production of energy, biosynthesis of important substances, and degradation of various compounds.
Bile
A bitter, yellow-green secretion of the liver. Bile is stored in the gallbladder and is released when fat enters the first part of the small intestine (duodenum) in order to aid digestion.