Cancer cells fueled by the mutant KRAS oncogene, which makes them notoriously difficult to treat, can be killed by blocking a more vulnerable genetic partner of KRAS, report scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT.

Current research suggests that latent cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection may exacerbate inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The related report by Onyeagocha et al, “Latent cytomegalovirus infection exacerbates experimental colitis,” appears in the November 2009 issue of The American Journal of Pathology. CMV infects between 50% and 80% of adults in the United States.

As Washington policymakers debated health care reform on weekend talk shows, 48 people who are out of work or without health insurance received free colonoscopy screenings at Gastrointestinal Associates (GIA) here. More than half of the group at the first “GIA Screening Colonoscopy Day” had polyps removed. One was Gloria Hutchison, 60, a Knoxville woman with no health insurance. “I saw the sign at The Free Medical Clinic and knew I should do it,” Hutchison said.

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) are involved in the carcinogenesis of many malignancies. Therapeutic molecules targeting EGFR and HER2 have been successfully used for the treatment of colorectal, breast, lung and head and neck cancers among others. It is unknown if EGFR and HER2 are overexpressed in advanced biliary tract cancer (BTC) and therefore may serve as therapeutic targets in these cancers.

Drugs made using unusual metals could form an effective treatment against colon and ovarian cancer, including cancerous cells that have developed immunity to other drugs, according to research at the University of Warwick and the University of Leeds.

A set of 87 genes one day may be used to routinely determine which patients can be successfully treated for advanced rectal cancer without undergoing a surgical procedure, researchers announced at the 2009 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.

Readmission to a hospital after standard surgical treatment for colon cancer is far more common than suspected for elderly patients according to researchers who presented their findings at the 2009 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.

A new Tel Aviv University drug, based on an older generation antibiotic, may provide doctors with an effective and innovative method of treating colon cancer in both its incipient and full-blown stages – and minimize the need for painful, uncomfortable colonoscopies and surgical polyp removal. Dr. Rina Rosin-Arbesfeld of TAU’s Sackler School of Medicine has shown in preclinical studies that a common antibiotic can suppress the growth of colon cancer polyps in mice.

As part of the $5 billion in grants announced by President Obama, the National Institutes of Health has granted Kaiser Permanente more than $54 million over two years through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to conduct health research on a multitude of critical public and clinical health areas. The bulk of this research will utilize and leverage Kaiser Permanente’s electronic health records, the world’s largest civilian electronic health record database.

NiTi™ Surgical Solutions, an innovative surgical device company, announced that it will showcase its new, investigational bowel anastomosis device this week at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) 95th Annual Clinical Congress in Chicago, Illinois. The device, which will be marketed as BowelRing™, represents the company’s next advancement in its innovative BioDynamix™ Anastomosis Technology platform.