WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 21, 2007) While cancer has been studied extensively to determine the major contributing factors for risk and ultimate outcome, many variables still remain and doctors are puzzled by new cases that do not fit "old" protocol. Research presented today at Digestive Disease Week 2007 (DDW) demonstrates improved results in determining these risks, including the relative "weight" of being heavy on risk for colon cancer; possible risk of cancer surgery among elderly individuals; and how race determines incidence as well as treatment decisions. DDW is the largest international gathering of physicians and researchers in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal surgery.

"Drilling down into clinical trials data for different types of patients can lead to varying and important conclusions," said Marcia R. Cruz-Correa, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry, University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center. "In these instances, management of risk factors for colon cancer and treatment decisions for a particular sub-group of patients can be influenced by these analyses."

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a cancer of cells in the liver, is on the rise in part due to the high prevalence of chronic hepatitis C infection, which increases the risk for the disease. Surgery is the only potential curative treatment for HCC and this study sought to determine the patterns of use for this treatment.

Researchers from the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, Mich., and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md., reviewed data of all HCC patients submitted to the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) National Cancer Institute registry between 1998 and 2003. A total of 14,902 patients with HCC w
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Contact: Aimee Frank
AFrank@gastro.org
301-941-2620
American Gastroenterological Association
21-May-2007