Posts Tagged Colorectal_Cancer

Who Is More Prone To Develop Colorectal Cancer?

By Scott William

The exact reason why colon cancer develops in some persons and not in others is not clear. The incidence of colon cancer is quite varied among different countries and within different ethnic groups inside the same country. Industrialized countries like United States, Canada, UK, Western Europe, Australia and Japan have a much higher incidence of colorectal cancer compared to the less industrialized parts of the world like Asia, Africa, and South America. Colorectal cancer represent over 9 percent of all cancers in men and about 10 percent of all cancers in women world-wide. In industrialized countries the incidence of colorectal cancer can be as high as 12 to 14 of all cancers, and in non-industrialized countries much lower rates of about 7 to 8 percent of all cancers diagnosed may be colorectal cancer.

Excluding skin cancer, colorectal cancer is the third commonest cancer diagnosed in the United States. Each year over 100,000 Americans are diagnosed with colon cancer and over 50 percent of these patients will die from colorectal cancer. Colon cancer incidence is not much different between males and females, however colon cancer is slightly more prevalent in women compared to men (ratio of 1.2:1) but the rectal cancer is more common in males (ratio of 1.7:1).

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Price dispute blocks costly cancer drug in Canada

One of the world’s most costly cancer drugs will not be marketed in Canada because of a price dispute between the drug’s distributor and the federal government.

The colorectal cancer drug Erbitux, which was approved by Health Canada nine months ago, will not be launched after distributor Bristol Myers Squibb Canada could not agree on a price with the federal Patented Medicine Prices Review Board., The Globe and Mail reports.

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Antidepressants May Fight Colorectal Cancer

03.27.06, 12:00 AM ET

MONDAY, March 27 (HealthDay News) — A pioneering study supports a theory that a widely used class of antidepressant drugs can also fight cancers, such as colorectal cancer, Canadian researchers report.

The drugs, called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), include such popular medications as Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft. The study was based on reports that serotonin, the body chemical linked to depression, also promotes the growth of cancer cells, said Dr. Jean-Paul Collet, professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at McGill University in Montreal.

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