TUSCON, AZ -- One-hundred-and-fifty-thousand people in the US will be diagnosed with colon cancer this year -- a third of them will die but doctors believe drugs may stop the disease before it even starts.
"When they said, 'You have cancer,' I said, 'that can't be.'” Ivelisse Page is a thirty-eight-year-old mother of four. Colon cancer was not part of her plan. "Prayers are what's given me the peace and strength to keep going."
According to the American Cancer Society, colon cancer is the third deadliest cancer, but doctors are investigating if a combination of two drugs can stop it before it develops. Eugene Gerner is the director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Program at the Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson, AZ. “We are targeting these polyps, which are risk factors.
Half of those over 50 will develop a colon polyp at some point in their lives. Over time the clumps of cells may turn into cancer. He says, “If we could stop them presumably, the mortality due to colon cancer will also go down by more than 50 percent."
The anti-inflammatory drug Sulindac and the cancer-fighting compound D-F-M-O were tested on people with a history of polyps. Results showed it stopped them from returning up to 95-percent of the time.
Linda Leighton has colon polyps. “I knew because of my age, I was at a higher risk."
The retired school teacher had polyps removed from her colon. She didn't want to wait to find out if they would return and enrolled in the study. “My post screening came out that there were no polyps and I was very excited and hopeful." She’s a woman who's taking cancer prevention into her own hands.
The University of Arizona and University of California at Irvine are collaborating on this colon cancer research project. The new combination drug treatment is not yet approved by the F-D-A. More clinical trials are planned this year.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Sara Hammond, Director of Public Affairs
Arizona Cancer Center
(520) 626-2277
shammond@azcc.arizona.edu
