(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new study that shows a woman's chance of
surviving colorectal cancer decreases with age suggests hormones may be an
effective treatment.
After screening nearly 53,000 patients who suffered metastatic colorectal cancer
between 1988 and 2004, study authors found women age 18 to 44 had a
significantly longer survival than men -- 17 months compared to 14 months -- but
older women had a significantly shorter overall survival -- seven months
compared to nine months.
"We've known for a while that estrogen prevents colorectal cancer, but this is
the first study to suggest it may improve outcomes once you have colorectal
cancer," Heinz-Josef Lenz, M.D., co-director of gastrointestinal oncology and
colorectal cancer at the University of Southern California/Norris Comprehensive
Cancer Center of the Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles, was quoted as
saying.
James Abbruzzese, M.D., chair of gastrointestinal medical oncology at the
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and deputy editor of Clinical
Cancer Research suggests researchers consider that fact that women diagnosed
after 2000 have experienced better survival rates, at the same time that
chemotherapy has become more aggressive and more likely to reduce hormone
levels.
"It may not just be hormones," Dr. Abbruzzese was quoted as saying.
Source: Clinical Cancer Research, 2009
