Thirteen beautiful men and women raise awareness about an ugly topic: colorectal cancer. These sexy survivors are showing their scars hoping to save lives.

Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed a new light-activated nanomachine which can store anticancer drugs and release them into cancer cells. Researchers from the California NanoSystems Institute and the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA created the tiny cargo-carrying nanoparticles as a mechanism to deliver targeted chemotherapy drugs or dyes [...]

Representatives from five major US cancer care groups have collaborated to create new colorectal cancer screening guidelines designed to detect precancerous adenomas and malignant tumors in patients showing no symptoms. The American Cancer Society, the American College of Gastroenterology, the American Gastroenterological Association, the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and the American College of Radiology [...]

A study of 3,450 colorectal cancer patients conducted by the University of Rochester Medical Center suggests smokers should start getting screened for colon cancer 10 years earlier than their non-smoking counterparts. The American Cancer Society and other cancer experts currently recommend most people begin getting colonoscopies at age 50. However, Rochester’s investigation indicates age 50 [...]

Research conducted by the John Wayne Cancer Institute (JWCI) at Saint John’s Health Center indicates the receptor protein CCR9 may promote the spread of melanoma to the small intestine. Unlike other cancers, melanoma skin cancer commonly metastasizes to the lower bowel and, until recently, scientists were at a loss to explain the connection. JWCI’s study [...]

Patients being treated for metastatic colorectal cancer in Europe just got a new treatment option. Capecitabine, which is marketed by Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company Roche under the trade name Xeloda, has been approved by the European Commission for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer. European health officials approved the oral tablets for use in combination with [...]

Effective April 1, 2008, Aetna (NYSE: AET) will no longer cover an anesthetic commonly used during colonoscopies, a diagnostic tool used to detect colorectal cancer. Similar exclusions have already been implemented by WellPoint (NYSE: WLP) and Humana (NYSE: HUM). The drug propofol, marketed under the trade name Diprivan, is used to thoroughly sedate patients so [...]

The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison is reporting results of a study showing virtual colonoscopies are just as effective as traditional colonoscopies at detecting potentially cancerous growths. CT Colonography (commonly referred to as virtual colonoscopy, VC, or CTC) uses CT imaging and computers to create a 3D view of [...]

Scientists from the University of Chieti in Italy have found that a gene which normally functions in the placenta during the early stages of pregnancy is also expressed in most human cancers. Professor Saverio Alberti and his team discovered that the Trop-2 gene was involved in the formation of invasive cells needed during the stage [...]

Most forms of colorectal cancer can be prevented or successfully treated if caught early enough. Unfortunately, the disease is usually asymptomatic until it reaches the advanced stages so many people aren’t diagnosed until it is too late. Colonoscopies can detect pre-cancerous polyps or small cancerous tumors early but, many patients avoid getting the procedure because [...]