Drug May Reduce Recurrence of High-Grade Colorectal Adenomas
A new study has found that ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) treatment is associated with a 39% relative reduction in the risk of recurrence of high-grade colorectal adenomas.
Secondary bile acids in stool, particularly deoxycholic acid (DCA), have been implicated in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer. Preclinical research and early-phase trials have indicated that treatment with UDCA, which suppresses many of the biological pathways turned on by DCA, is associated with a reduced incidence of colorectal neoplasia.
David S. Alberts, M.D., of the Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson, and colleagues conducted a phase III double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of UDCA in 1,285 patients who had undergone removal of a colorectal adenoma. The participants were randomly assigned to received UDCA treatment or a placebo for 3 years or until a follow-up colonoscopy.
UDCA treatment was associated with a 12% reduction in adenoma recurrence compared with placebo (43.9% of the placebo group versus 41.0% of the UDCA group had at least one recurrent adenoma), but this result was not statistically significant. However, UDCA treatment was associated with a statistically significant 39% reduction in the recurrence of adenomas with high-grade dysplasia (8.7% in the placebo group versus 5.5% in the UDCA group). "Because severely dysplastic lesions have a greater potential for progression to invasive colorectal carcinoma than lesions with less dysplasia, this finding warrants further investigation in future chemoprevention trials of UDCA in this population," the authors write.
Contact: Donna Breckenridge, Communications, Arizona Cancer Center, 520-626-2277, dbreckenridge@azcc.arizona.edu
Molecule May Be Target for Treatment of Malignant Glioma
A new study has found that a
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Contact: Sarah L. Zielinski
jncimedia@oupjournals.org
301-841-1287
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
31-May-2005