Vendor Highlights - updated daily

Vendor Highlights - updated daily

Focusing on innovative technology, news, and advertisements regarding gastrointestinal endoscopy. Vendor Highlights provides ease of access into the window of tomorrow.

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Changes in Lifestyle May Improve Quality of Life for Colon Cancer Survivors
A recent study conducted by the American Cancer Society reports that although few cancer survivors follow recommendations for lifestyle changes aimed to improve health and well-being, adhering to these guidelines may improve quality of life among colon cancer survivors. Full details of the study were recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The American Cancer Society has created guidelines aimed at improving the quality of life among cancer survivors. In the current study, researchers looked for an association between three of these recommendations and health-related quality-of-life scores. The three recommendations were physical activity, eating five servings of fruit and vegetables per day, and stopping smoking.
A total of 9,105 survivors from six different cancer groups completed a national survey requesting information regarding lifestyle and health status. Results of the study found the following:
Only 14–19% of cancer survivors were eating five servings per day of fruit and vegetables.
Physical activity recommendations were met by 29–47% of cancer survivors.
Smoking cessation was met by 82–91% of cancer survivors.
Overall, only 5% of survivors met all three of the recommendations.
Further analysis showed that higher quality of life scores were observed among survivors who met the lifestyle recommendations, particularly the physical activity recommendation. Among various types of cancer, significant positive associations were seen between quality-of-life scores and lifestyle recommendations among breast, prostate, colorectal, bladder, and uterine cancer survivors as well as melanoma survivors.
Researchers concluded that although few cancer survivors are meeting the lifestyle recommendations, many cancer survivors have reported an improvement in quality of life when they do follow the guidelines. Interventions by healthcare providers that encourage patients to follow these recommendations are warranted and are an important part of improving quality of life for cancer survivors.
(Cancer Consultants, 5/7/08)

Low BMI Linked to Esophageal Cancer in China
imilar to evidence from studies conducted in the west, an inverse association between body mass index (BMI) and the risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus has been shown in a population-based study conducted in China. In contrast to western studies, a positive association between BMI and adenocarcinoma of the esophagus was observed.
A prospective study of 220,000 Chinese men between the ages of 40 and 79 years was conducted by Dr. ZhengMing Chen of the University of Oxford, UK, and colleagues there and in Beijing. The mean baseline BMI was 21.7 kilogram/meter squared and the men had no history of cancer.
During 10 years of follow-up, there were 1082 deaths from esophageal cancer.
"Even among men with good self-assessed health and BMI greater than or equal to 18.5, there was a strong inverse association between BMI and death from esophageal cancer, with each increase in BMI of 5 associated with 25% lower esophageal cancer mortality," Dr. Chen and colleagues report in the April 1st issue of the International Journal of Cancer.
The association remained even after excluding men with a history of smoking and after excluding the first 5 years of follow-up.
Meta-analyses confirmed the association found by Dr. Chen’s team. Those studies indicate a 31% lower relative risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus for every 5 kilogram/meter squared gain in BMI. As mentioned, there a positive association between adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and BMI.
While deaths from squamous cell cancer have been two- to three-times higher in China than the West, deaths from adenocarcinoma of the esophagus have been lower.
As the Asian diet becomes westernized and BMIs increase in China, deaths from squamous cell esophageal cancer appear to be declining and deaths from adenocarcinoma of the esophagus appear to be increasing. This trend is "attributed largely to an increase in the proportion of people who are overweight or obese in these populations," the investigators write.
"Together, these data provide reliable evidence that in many populations low BMI is associated with an increased risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus," they conclude.
An increase in esophageal adenocarcinoma correlating with an increase in BMI "could potentially offset any advantageous effects of improved population nutrition on squamous cell carcinoma," Dr. Chen and colleagues caution.
(Cancer Page, 5/8/08)

Proton Pump Inhibitors Don’t Appear to Influence Colorectal Cancer Risk
Exposure to proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) does not appear to increase the risk of colorectal cancer, according to a report in the April issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.
"Our study did not show an association between PPI use and colorectal cancer," Eva M. van Soest from Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands told Reuters Health. "Careful monitoring seems wise, and studies should be repeated when longer follow-up is available."
In a case-control population study conducted between 1996 and 2005, Dr. van Soest and associates investigated the association between the use of PPIs and the risk of colorectal cancer in 457,024 subjects, calculating for the overall presence of colorectal cancer and separately for colorectal cancer in the right and left hemicolon.
The odds of colorectal cancer did not increase among patients who had ever used PPIs compared with those who had not, the authors report, and there was no duration-effect or dose-dependent relationship between PPI use and colorectal cancer risk.
Out of the 595 patients who developed colorectal cancer, the authors noted no increased risk among those who were taking a PPI and those who were not.
The use of PPIs was not associated with a greater risk of colorectal cancer when the right and left hemicolon were analyzed separately, the report indicates.
The risk of colorectal cancer was significantly increased in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and a higher degree of comorbidity but not in patients with a positive Helicobacter pylori status.
"Although there might be biological plausibility for an association between PPI use and colorectal cancer, we did not expect to see a large effect since patients with profound hypergastrinemia due to other reasons (Zollinger Ellison or pernicious anemia, for example) have not been shown to be at increased risk of colorectal cancer," van Soest explained. "In our study we did not see an increased risk for left-sided colorectal cancer, indicating that PPI-induced hypergastrinemia is indeed not a major factor in colorectal cancer pathogenesis."
"Although every study including ours has some weaknesses," Dr. van Soest added, "two other recently published studies did not find an increased risk of colorectal cancer with PPI use either."
"The results of this study therefore dispute an increased risk of colorectal cancer among PPI users of more than 50%," the investigators say. "Studies including a larger number of patients with prolonged PPI exposure are needed to draw sound conclusions about the risk of colorectal cancer associated with long-term PPI use."
(5/7/08)

Boston Scientific Claims Decision in Patent Dispute
Medical device maker Boston Scientific Corp. said Monday an arbitration panel with the World Intellectual Property Organization ruled in its favor in a patent dispute with Medinol Ltd.
Israel-based Medinol had argued that its patents were infringed by Boston Scientific’s Liberte and Taxus stents, which are devices used to prop open clogged arteries.
The companies agreed to arbitration in 2005 as part of a settlement deal. Medinol has a right to appeal the arbitration decision.
Shares of Boston Scientific fell 13 cents to close at $13.29.
(Forbes, 5/6/08)

Gene Effect on Colon Cancer Differs by Gender
Whether variant forms of a gene called EGFR increase or decrease survival with colon cancer depends on whether the patient is male or female, new study findings indicate.
Gender-related differences in colon cancer are recognized, including lower rates among women and gender-related response to treatment, according to the article in the journal Cancer Research. Expression of EGFR has been linked with a worse prognosis, but up until now, it was assumed that variants of the gene had a similar effect in men and women.
The research team at the Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles, headed by Dr. Heinz-Josef Lenz, studied two variant forms of EGFR. One of the variants involved a change at a spot called codon 497 and the other involved a change in an area known as intron 1.
To examine the effects of the variants on survival, the researchers analyzed DNA from 318 patients with advanced colon cancer who had all received similar treatment.
When all 177 men and 141 women were considered, the EGFR variants did not influence survival. However, when men and women were analyzed separately, the variants affected survival differently.
Specifically, in men, the codon 497 variant decreased the usual survival period from 13.7 to 10.3 months. In women, however, the variant increased survival from 14.0 to 16.0 months.
The intron 1 variant also acted differently in men versus women. For the same genetic change, survival rose by 10.3 to 13.1 months in men, while it fell from 17.6 to 14.1 months in women.
As to mechanisms that might explain these differences, Lenz’s group believes that it may relate to how the EGFR protein interacts with male and female hormone receptors in the colon.
These findings suggest, Lenz said in a statement, that gene variants "should be evaluated differently in women and men and that treatment decisions may depend on gender and not only on (genetic) or clinical findings."
(Reuters, 5/5/08)