colon and rectal cancer

Vanderbilt investigators have discovered a novel non-genetic cause of resistance to the targeted anti-cancer therapy cetuximab. Their findings, reported this week in Nature Medicine, suggest a strategy for overcoming this resistance.

Vanderbilt researchers have found that red blood cell membrane fatty acid content is associated with risk of having colorectal adenomas, with omega-6 fatty acids increasing and omega-3 fatty acids decreasing risk.

Bile acids produced by a western diet alter the composition of the gut microbiota and promote intestinal carcinogenesis.

Vanderbilt’s Robert Coffey Jr., M.D., has received an Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) — more than $6.6 million over seven years — to support studies aimed at advancing the diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC), a leading cancer killer.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center cancer researcher James Goldenring, M.D., Ph.D., has received a two-year, $200,000 grant from the DeGregorio Family Foundation in Pleasantville, New York, to begin clinical trials of a potential approach for reversing precancerous stomach lesions.

A novel fluorescent nanobeacon can distinguish normal from diseased colon tissue, potentially offering advantages for colorectal cancer screening.

Despite dramatic recent advances in treatment, colorectal cancer killed more than 49,000 Americans last year, according to the National Cancer Institute, making it the second most lethal malignancy after cancers of the lung and bronchus.