Marathon and extreme runners much more likely to have pre-cancerous colon polyps, study says

A new study conducted by a Virginia doctor shows that comparatively young marathon and ultra-marathon runners are more apt to have pre-cancerous colon growths.

Dr. Timothy Cannon

The study by oncologist Timothy Cannon, who tested colonoscopies at the Inova Schar Cancer Institute in Fairfax, Va., on 100 volunteers aged 35 to 50, was showcased yesterday in a story by Roni Caryn Rabin in The New York Times.

"The results," the article says, "were staggering. Almost half the participants had polyps, and 15 percent had advanced adenomas likely to become cancerous."

The new study, the piece continued, "comes amid heightened concerns about a rise in colon and rectal cancer rates among adults under 50, a population that  historically has had a low risk of cancer."

Cannon, who ran the New York City marathon in 2010, is quoted believing that "after what I've seen from my patients and what we've found here, that extreme exercise may increase the risk."

As for continuing to run, he added that "you never want to give people an excuse not to exercise, because by and large we have bigger problems from people not exercising enough.

More information on what can cause the disease can be found in Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer, a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten aimed at male caregivers. My other books are MysteryDates — How to keep the sizzle in your relationship; The Roving I, a compilation of 70 of my newspaper columns; and Grampy and His Fairyzona Playmates, a whimsical fantasy intended for 6- to 10-year-olds that I co-authored with my then 8-year-old granddaughter. Check out my website at https://woodyweingarten.com for details.

Younger adults are missing early warning signs of colon cancer, writer reports in The N.Y. Times

Many adults in their 20s, 30s, and 40s are missing the red flags for colon cancer, a problem that's partially responsible for colorectal cancer rates rapidly rising in that age bracket.

A story by Roni Caryn Rabin in editions of The New York Times a while ago notes that the most common warning sign for the disease is passing blood in the stool.

Rabin's article explains, too, that "rectal bleeding is associated with a fivefold increased risk of colorectal cancer, according to the new analysis, which looked at 81 studies that included nearly 25 million adults under 50 from around the world."

Other common warning signs are abdominal pain, change in bowel habits, and anemia.

At the same time, the story says, rates have declined among older people, "who are far more likely to get colonoscopies that can catch cancers and precancerous lesions called polyps."

Despite the fact that "millennials born around 1990 are at almost twice the risk of colon cancer compared with people born in the 1950s, and have a risk of rectal cancer that is four times as high, young people without a strong family history of colon cancer aren't eligible for colonoscopies until the age of 45," the Times piece adds. 

Dr. Joshua Demb

According to Dr. Joshua Demb, cancer epidemiologist at the University of California, San Diego, and one of the lead authors of the paper that was published in the journal JAMA Network Open, because physicians are less likely to suspect malignancies in younger people, they may attribute a symptom like rectal bleeding to a benign condition like hemorrhoids, rather than cancer.

"We need to facilitate early detection," he was quoted as saying, "and one way is identifying these red flags."

According to Rabin, "from the time younger adults first go to a caregiver with a complaint about a symptom until thy receive a diagnosis can take four to six months on average [and] because the diagnosis is often delayed, younger adults tend to have more advanced disease that s harder to treat."

Colorectal cancer, the story also says, "has long been associated with obesity, smoking, a sedentary lifestyle, high alcohol intake, and diets that are rich in red meat, processed food, and sugary drinks."

More information about red flags can be found in Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer, a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.

Columnist suggests three strategies that could possibly reduce your risk of contracting cancer

By employing three strategies, you may reduce your cancer risk. 

That, at least, is the opinion of Dr. Jerry Saliman, whose Senior Life column in an earlier-this-month edition of j. the Jewish News of Northern California, focused on those strategies — being on the lookout, catching symptoms early, and paying attention to risky behavioral factors.

Dr. Jerry Saliman

Regarding the first strategy, Saliman writes that unfortunately only four types of cancer screening have received a high-level record recommendation from a U.S. task force: colon, lung, breast, and cervix.

As to the second line of reasoning, the columnist, a Bay Area physician who retired from Kaiser South San Francisco after a 30-year career and now is a volunteer internist at Samaritan House Medical Clinic in San Mateo, suggests that "by catching cancer early, the survival rates may be four times higher compared with later-stage detection."

Saliman adds, about the last strategy, that the American Cancer Society's prevention studies have been crucial in detailing risk factors — including, in the 1950s, being the first to identify smoking as a major reason for cancer. The ACS has since, via its ongoing research, "found that older age and smoking have the highest relative risk for developing any cancer for both men and women."

Additional risks for men, his column says, "are family history of cancer, red meat consumption, alcohol intake, and physical inactivity."

More information on risks can be found in Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer, a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.

'New frontier' blood tests to find cancer may create risks for patients, N.Y. Times story says

Blood tests that detect cancer can create risks for those who use them, according to a story by Gina Kolata a while back in The New York Times.

The article indicates that "the tests screen for cancers that often go undetected, but they are expensive and some experts worry they could lead to unnecessary treatments without saving patients' lives."

Some companies, Kolata's piece says, aren't waiting for Food and Drug Administration approval before they sell the tests. One of the companies, Grail, is selling an annual version, and a second company, Exact Sciences, plans to do the same, using a loophole provision "known as laboratory developed tests."

The tests, the story contends, "are a new frontier in screening. Companies developing them say they can find dozens of cancers."

Supporters of the tests insist they can "slash cancer death rates by finding tumors when they are still small and curable. But a definitive study to determine whether the tests prevent cancer deaths would have to involve more than a million healthy adults randomly assigned to have an annual blood test for cancer or not. Results would take a decade or longer."

While standard screening tests "are commonly used to detect cancer of the breast, colon, cervix and prostate," Kolata's article notes, "73 percent of people who die of cancer had cancers that are not detected by standard test."

The story quotes Dr. Tomasz Beer a cancer researcher at Oregon Health & Science University who is directing a Grail-sponsored study of the test. "We're at a point now where the blood tests are in their early days," he says, but "I think there's promise for a real impact."

Dr. H. Gilbert Welch

Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, a senior investigator in the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham and Women's Hospital, raises a red flag: "Grail proposes to test every Medicare beneficiary every year, making it the screening test that could bankrupt Medicare."

Among other risks the story attributes to some doctors are that "some will have a positive test, but doctors will be unable to locate the cancer. Others will be treated aggressively with surgery or chemotherapy for cancers that, if left alone, would not have grown and spread and may even have gone away."  

Dr. Barnett Kramer, former director of the Division of Cancer Prevention at the National Cancer Institute and a member of the Lisa Schwartz Foundation for Truth in Medicine, according to Kolata's story, "fears that the tests will come into widespread use without ever showing they are beneficial" and hopes that "we are not halfway through a nightmare." 

Once the tests are being used broadly, he adds, "it is difficult to unring the bell."

More information about clinical trials can be found in "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer," a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at caregivers.

New report shows more colon cancer cases being found in younger people, Washington Post says

Experts are worried that the proportion of cases of colon cancer has been shifting to those younger than 55 — despite an overall drop in cases of colon and rectal cancer.

According to a story by Teddy Amenabar in yesterday's editions of The Washington Post, the report — from the American Cancer Society (ACS) — also indicates that "more patients are being diagnosed with later stage disease."

The shift toward younger adults, the story says, is shown by the statistics: "One in five new cases of colorectal cancer in the United States occur in people younger than 55 — about  twice the rate in 1995, when 11 percent of cases were in this age group."

Amenabar's piece also says that in "another alarming shift, 60 percent of patients are being diagnosed with an advanced stage of the disease, up from 52 percent in the mid-2000s."

No reason for the shift is addressed in the study. But the findings suggest that "steady progress to reduce the incidence of colon cancer through screening during the past few decades is losing momentum," the article continues.

Dr. Paul Oberstein

Quoted, then, is Dr. Paul Oberstein, a  medical oncologist at the NYU Langone Permutter Cancer Center, who was not involved in the study. He says "there is a bit of a worrisome trend. Something is clearly different among the young, the under 50 population, that does suggest…that the number of cancers is going up."

Also quoted is Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director at the ACS and lead author of the report. "We know rates are increasing in young people," she says in a statement, "but it's alarming to see how rapidly the patient population is shifting longer, despite shrinking numbers in the overall population. The trend toward more advanced disease in people of all ages is also surprising and should motivate everyone 45 and older to get screened."

More information on screenings can be found in Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer, a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, have aimed at male caregivers.

Maryland Congressman who led second Trump impeachment trial reports that he has lymphoma

Jamie B. Raskin, a key member of the House Select Committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, is again fighting cancer.

The 60-year-old Democrat Congressman from Maryland, who'd also led the second impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, announced yesterday that he is being treated for lymphoma.

Rep. Jamie Raskin

According to a story by Steve Thompson in The Washington Post, Raskin reported that “after several days of tests, I have been diagnosed with Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma, which is a serious but curable form of cancer. Prognosis for most people in my situation is excellent after four months of treatment.”

Raskin, who won reelection last month with more than 80% of the vote, said he expects to work during the outpatient treatment of chemo-immunotherapy — though physicians have cautioned him "to reduce unnecessary exposure to the coronavirus, the flu and other viruses."

Thompson's story quotes him from a press release, joking, "“I am advised that [the treatment] also causes hair loss and weight gain (although I am still holding out hope for the kind that causes hair gain and weight loss).”

Raskin has battled cancer before. Radiation and chemo helped him in 2010 get rid of Stage 3 colon cancer.

In the final session of the select committee, Raskin was the one who voiced the committee's referral of four criminal charges against Trump to the Department of Justice.

More information about life-threatening diseases and treatments can be found in Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer, a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.

Docs hopeful about developing cancer vaccines despite some giving up on them a decade ago

Physicians have begun to feel optimistic about developing immunizations against pancreatic, colon, and breast cancers. 

According to an article by Gina Kolata in today's editions of The New York Times, that report comes from early research with animals despite many doctors having given up a decade ago on the notion of finding cancer vaccines.

Dr. Sachet Shukla

The story quotes Dr. Sachet A. Shukla, who directs a cancer vaccine program at MC Anderson Cancer Center, as saying "cancer vaccines are an idea whose time has come…There is no reason why [they] would not work if given at the earliest stage."

Dr. Susan Domchek, principal investigator of a breast cancer vaccine study at the University of Pennsylvania, foresees "a time when anyone with a pre-cancerous condition or a genetic predisposition to cancer could be vaccinated and protected," the piece continues.

"People would have said this is insane," she's quoted as saying. Now, "it's super-aspirational, but you've got to think big."

Kolata's story asserts that "the search for cancer vaccines started with Olivera Finn, PhD, a distinguished professor in the departments of immunology and surgery at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine" in 1993. She began with a trial of 63 patients with Stage 4 cancer. It quickly became clear, however, "that the cancers were too far advanced for immunizations to work."

Olivera Finn, PhD

After all, Finn notes, with the exception of rabies, no one vaccinates against an infectious disease in people who are already infected."

Now, she and a colleague at Pittsburgh, Dr. Robert Schoen, a gastroenterologist, are trying to prevent pre-cancerous colon polyps with a vaccine that worked in mice.

More information about research on diseases can be found in "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer," a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.

Once you hit 80, odds say you'll live past 90

Risk factors for another cancer jump up if you've already had one kind — or if one of your kin has

Is it possible to live cancer-free?

The answer is a resounding yes, at least according to a recent non-bylined article in the AARP Magazine, whose subhead reads in part, "Age is a risk factor for cancer, but the chances of developing a fatal cancer may actually begin to decline at age 70."

It also contends that "once you hit 80, our chance of living to 90 and beyond goes way up."

The article isn't totally positive, however.

It says, for instance, that "women who have had breast cancer are more at risk for another type of breast cancer, and other cancers."

And it notes that "a Stanford University study showed that people diagnosed with six or more basal cell carcinomas have more than three times the odds for developing future cancers, such as breast, colon and prostate cancer as well as leukemia and lymphoma — likely due to an underlying  problem in genes that repair DNA."

In short, having one kind of cancer makes a woman or man prone to other kinds. 

And if you smoked, it says, "you're at increased risk for not only lung cancer but also a dozen other cancers, including oral, cervical, bladder and pancreatic."

Your family medical history can also increase your risk.

Heather Hampel

The AARP piece quotes Heather Hampel, associate director of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, as saying that if you have a family history of cancer you should coordinate with a genetic counselor who can put your results in perspective and recommend an action plan.

"Women who carry the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, for example, have up to a 72% chance of developing breast cancer and 44% chance of ovarian cancer by age 80," the article states.

But, even though in the general population women have only about a 12% lifetime risk of breast cancer, and "though those statistics sound scary, genetic testing can help doctors guide you on the best ways to prevent cancers, or diagnose this earlier, when they are treatable," the AARP mag further   quotes Hampel.

More information about risks can be found in "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer," a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at caregivers.

Stop sugary drinks and lessen your risks 46%

Yale study finds daily diet soda might lower risk of colon cancer recurrence — and death

Drinking diet soda every day can be particularly beneficial for those who've beaten colon cancer.

A new study by Yale University researchers, according to a story by Nyssa Kruse of The Hartford Courant a while ago, found that patients who drank it "were less likely to see a recurrence and less likely to die than those who didn't drink diet soda."

The study analyzed 1,018 patients, determining that "those who drank one or more 12-ounce artificially sweetened drink a day saw a 46 percent improvement in risk."

Dr. Charles S. Fuchs

Kruse's story quotes Dr. Charles S. Fuchs, director of the Yale Cancer Center, as calling the findings "exciting" — after noting that "artificially sweetened drinks have a checkered reputation in the public because of purported health risks that have never really been documented." 

The researchers attributed half the benefit of diet drinks "to patients substituting diet sodas for drinks full of sugar," the Times story indicated.

In a separate cancer study, unrelated to soda, Yale researchers found cancer patients who used complementary treatments (such as yoga, acupuncture and homeopathy) alongside traditional treatments such as chemotherapy "were more likely to die than those only using traditional treatments" — because they'd be likely to refuse a component of traditional treatment.

Details on other cancer research can be found in "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer," a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.

American Cancer Society vs. U.S. advisory group

Agency and task force disagree on when people should start screening for colon cancer 

Whether U.S. adults should start colon cancer screening at age 45 or 50 is still in doubt.

The most recent guidelines from the American Cancer Society advocate the former, but an influential government advisory group, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, still believes the latter age is perfectly okay.

According to an Associated Press story by Mike Stobbe a while back, the cancer society admits its recommendation of the earlier age "could cause confusion for doctors and patients." 

Both groups, however, apparently recommend six other kinds of screening exams, "from inexpensive take-home stool tests performed every year to colonoscopies done every 10."

Dr. Rich Wender

The best test, the cancer society's Dr. Rich Wender is quoted as saying, "is the test that gets done. All of these tests are good tests, and the choice should be offered to patients."

Most colon cancer occurs, according to the story, "in adults 55 and older, and the good news is rates of cases and deaths have been falling for decades."

Colon cancer, combined with rectal cancer, is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States — the top cause being lung cancer.

Some 140,000 Americans were expected to be diagnosed with colon cancer this year, "and about 50,000 will die from it," Stobbe's piece reports.

Only "about two-thirds of people 50 and older have been following screening guidelines," the article notes, quoting Dr. Marcus Plescia of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials as saying that "it's hard enough to get people to do it at all."

But Dr. Andrew Wolf, lead author of the American Cancer Society study, reportedly said his agency had considered and rejected that reasoning.

More information about conflicting research and findings can be found in "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer,"  a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at caregivers

Risks determined after 200 studies are reviewed

Is fat the worst cancer-causing agent of all? British journal review leads writer to say 'yes'

Being overweight, according to a story in the Marin Independent Journal recently, can be the worst carcinogen.

The condition, proclaims the article by Dr. Salvatore Iaquinta, surgeon at Kaiser Permanente San Rafael, "greatly increases a person's chance of getting cancer."

Dr. Salvatore Iaquinta

A woman "50 pounds overweight," he continues, "has a greater risk of developing breast cancer than a soldier who was exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War devoting prostate cancer."

Iaquinta, who writes a regular column under the rubric "Highway to Health" and who is the author of the book, "The Year They Tried to Kill Me," cites as the source for his belief a recent review in the "British Medical Journal." He notes that the authors had checked out more than 200 studies before determining their findings.

"Some of the associations between weight and cancer were gender specific," Iaquinta reports — such as breast cancer in postmenopausal women as well as cancer of the uterus lining.

Or colon and gallbladder cancers in men.

Other cancers "with increased risk related to body mass index," he indicates, include cancers of the kidney, stomach and pancreas as well as esophageal adenocarcinoma and multiple myeloma.

One of the doctor's main conclusions is that "rather than spending so much time and money to circumvent potential chemical exposures, we should be focusing our energy into staying in shape."

Details of other tests on the risks of contracting cancer can be found in "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer," a VitalityPress book I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.

Lead author calls research results 'shocking'

New study says risk of Gen Xers and millennials getting colon and rectal cancer is rising

Americans under 55 — those known as Gen Xers and millennials — are at a greater risk today of colon and rectal cancer than any generation before.

According to American Cancer Society (ACS) and National Cancer Institute (NSI) researchers, those born in 1990 have double the risk of colon cancer and quadruple the risk of rectal cancer than those born in 1950 had at the same age.

And most of those cancers would be in more advanced stages when discovered, a study published today in the Journal of the NSI indicates — probably because routine screening normally isn't recommended for those under 50.

Rebecca Siegel

The lead author of the study, Rebecca Siegel, an ACS epidemiologist, called the size of the increase "very shocking,'" most likely because the surge of younger diagnoses contrasts with the decades-long descent of colorectal cancer cases.

According to a Washington Post story by Laurie McKinley reprinted in the San Francisco Chronicle last week, Siegel noted that the drop has been driven by older adults who've gotten regular screenings, including colonoscopies, that detect growths before they become cancerous.

She also suggested that younger people are more apt to be uninsured, which might keep them from seeing a doctor until they can no longer ignore their symptoms.

"We had such great strides just in the past years in insurance coverage because of the Affordable Care Act," she said — hinting that the situation might change for the worse under the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans' desire to "repeal and replace" Obamacare.

The study looked at nearly half a million cases of colorectal cancer from 1974 to 2013. 

It found that colon cancer rates increased about 1 to 2 percent per year for people in their 20s and 30s, and that rates for middle-aged adults also rose, albeit at a slower pace.

"Rectal rates climbed even faster in recent decades," the story added, "at about 3 percent per year for people in their 20s and 30s and 2 percent annually for those 40 to 54."

Specific reasons for the increases, not incidentally, remain unclear.

The ACS, which predicts more than 95,000 new cases of colon cancer and almost 40,000 of colorectal cancer will be diagnosed this year, is reviewing colorectal cancer screening guidelines.

Research into the risks of diseases is an integral part of "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer," a VitalityPress book I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.