Technology Advances For Treatments Of Colon Cancer

From the early seventies until present, colon cancer has been on the incline. Colon cancer causes more cancer related deaths and follows only lung cancer. If diagnosed early on, the typical approach to curing this disease is surgery, which is very successful, if caught early. Otherwise, about half of the people with later stages of colon cancer will be fatal.

Pharmacia Corporation currently owns the market for pharmaceuticals sold for treatment of colon cancer. The number one drug used to treat colon cancer, Camptosar, is manufactured by Pharmacia Corporation, who intends on securing their billion plus dollar market with new drugs that successfully treat colon cancer. Sales are actually expected to soar. The only drawback from Camptosar is severe diarrhea.

Clinical researchers are more than hopeful that they will soon embark upon a drug or treatment that will actually prevent colon cancer. Pharmaceutical companies have even considered partnering in an even greater effort to treat colon cancer. Treatments and procedures for colon cancer have come a long way but there is still much need for improvement. More progress has been made with less invasive procedures such as laparoscopy than with medication that assists in curing and treatment of colon cancer

Laparoscopic surgery has made a world of difference in many aspects but with colon cancer in general, the scars are much smaller and hardly noticeable, the hospital stay is much shorter, and the patient is much less uncomfortable than with previous techniques used. So technology has advanced a long way. One characteristic that makes laparoscopic surgery so favorable is that anyone is a candidate for it. Those who are obese have had previous abdominal surgeries, heart conditions, or even diabetics are not excluded from this procedure. This has definitely become the treatment of choice.

Further research is being conducted for the treatment and possible elimination of colon cancer. There is a molecule that is being researched that has been found in a very large percentage of colon cancer patients and researchers are working on literally genetically removing this molecule which would significantly reduce colon polyps which are the main cause of colon cancer. As technology advances, researchers are certain that more effective ways to treat colon cancer are on the brink of discovery.