Hormones may Fight Colorectal Cancer in Women

(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

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