Colon cancer news.

Investigators say a new combination of chemotherapy drugs is safer and more effective than the medicines currently used to treat cases of advanced colorectal cancer.

The promising approach adds the new cancer drug called oxaliplatin (Eloxatin) to usual doses of 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin. Study results reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology show that cancer patients treated with the FOLFOX 4 program lived an average of five months longer than those on conventional therapy--the largest increase in survival time shown in any U.S. study of the disease.

Data from the international trial also reveal that patients given FOLFOX 4 experienced less severe diarrhea, vomiting, and hair loss than those on standard IFL (irinotecan, 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin) treatment.

The new drug regimen shows clear benefit and should be considered for first-line treatment of patients with advanced colorectal cancer, according to the study's lead researcher. An estimated 70,000 people each year are diagnosed with an advanced stage of the disease.