Colon Cancer

Consuming small amounts of freeze-dried grape powder can stave off colon cancer, UCI researchers told oncologists at a conference in San Francisco Friday. Grapes contain resveratrol, which previous studies have linked to the most common form of colon cancer. UCI researchers worked with colon cancer patients for their study. They gave one group daily 20 milligram piles of resveratrol, one group 120 grams daily of grape powder mixed with water and a third group 80 grams of grape powder mixed with water.

UCI researchers announced Monday they have made a breakthrough in the treatment of colon cancer. Using a low dosage of a cancer medication DFMO (diflouromethylornithine) with a commercial anti-inflammatory drug Sulindac, researchers were able to reduce the risk of reoccurring colorectal polyps, which are thought to be an early sign of colon cancer, researchers said at the American Assn. for Cancer Research meeting in San Diego. “I think it’s a very good step forward and perhaps a breakthrough,” said Dr. Randall Holcombe, UCI’s director of the office of clinical research and trials.

Julie Elkins cried only twice during her 11-year battle with breast cancer. The first time was while walking out of a clinic with the words, "You have cancer" ringing in her ears. The second was when her husband shaved her head. The Costa Mesa resident was also unprepared for the chemotherapy-induced loss of her eyebrows and eyelashes, she recalled. "I looked like Charlie Brown when I was bald," said Elkins, 52, laughing. "I learned how to tie scarves so I wouldn't look stupid.

Andrew Glazer NEWPORT BEACH -- Former football star Rich Saul on Thursday told the American Cancer Society that battling colon cancer was a greater challenge for him than reaching the Super Bowl. "I appreciate people that have to go through it," said Saul, who was awarded the Courage Award by the Orange County branch of the American Cancer Society at the Marriott Hotel. "It's a lot tougher than football ever was. At least in football, you have a game plan.

Visitors to the Hoag Hospital Cancer Center were treated to an unusual spectacle Monday. A giant colon has taken up residency in the center's main lobby, grabbing the attention of curious visitors who touched, peered in and even crawled through the larger-than-life intestine. The exhibit is meant to be fun, said nurse Elia Perez. But it is also meant to raise awareness about the importance of a regular colonoscopy screening to detect early signs of colorectal cancer. In 2005, about 147,000 people were diagnosed with colon cancer and another 56,000 people lost their lives because of the illness, Perez said.

Contaminant threat revised in UCI study Even at significantly higher rates than the state recommends, the contaminant perchlorate in drinking water poses no added risks to healthy people, according to a recent report issued by the UC Irvine Urban Water Research Center. The contaminant, which is a byproduct of rocket fuel manufacturing, was found to be less dangerous than was thought by an independent group of scholars, who will publish their findings to state agencies to aid in their decisions on the legal limits of perchlorate.

Women don't stop when they have the flu. If they're moms at home, they still do the kid stuff, as well as make dinner and maintain the house. And if they're single or kidless, they're on the job and you have to push them out the office door to get them home to some bed rest. But when most guys get the flu, they're ready to make out their last will and testament. Plus, they insist on being waited on hand and foot. Ask any woman who has had to nurse a man back to health from the flu and, if she's honest, she'll tell you men are babies.

UCI cancer center gets $18 million in grants UC Irvine will soon begin testing a possible cervical cancer vaccine, evaluating a failed chemotherapy drug's ability to prevent colon cancer and placing a greater emphasis on discovering new anti-cancer drugs will begin soon, thanks to three National Cancer Institute grants given to UC Irvine. The Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, the only center in Orange County to carry the cancer institute's "comprehensive" designation, received more than $18 million in grants: $11.5 million to renew for 4.5 years the cancer center's central focus of treating patients with cancer; educating the public about the risks and treatments and preventive measures against cancer; and finding new ways to combat these diseases; $4.4 million to study how well two chemicals combine to prevent colon cancer; and $2.2 million to test a proposed cervical cancer vaccine.

PROPOSITION 215 Vondruska said he would push vigorously for the implementation of Proposition 215, the medical marijuana initiative that was passed by California voters in 1996 but which has been subject to legal challenges ever since. Vondruska's father passed away from colon cancer in 1995. The medical marijuana question "hits home with me because I feel like it could have helped my father," he said. "But my parents wouldn't have anything to do with it" because of the legal threat.

Rich Saul's twin brother, Ron, was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago and is still alive. A story published Monday reported the contrary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . For the past 16 years, Rich Saul has been helping out with the Orange County Golf Invitational, but for the past eight, his efforts have come with more meaning. Saul, a former Pro Bowl center for the Los Angeles Rams, has been battling cancer for the past eight years. The disease hasn't just taken a toll on his body, but also on his family.

Julie Elkins cried only twice during her 11-year battle with breast cancer. The first time was while walking out of a clinic with the words, "You have cancer" ringing in her ears. The second was when her husband shaved her head. The Costa Mesa resident was also unprepared for the chemotherapy-induced loss of her eyebrows and eyelashes, she recalled. "I looked like Charlie Brown when I was bald," said Elkins, 52, laughing. "I learned how to tie scarves so I wouldn't look stupid.

For Bob Lee, things comes in threes: three bike rides around the country, three reasons, three generations. Lee, 70, of Barrington, Ill., stopped in Huntington Beach and Newport Beach last week on his way from Vancouver, Canada, to the U.S.-Mexico border. In 2001, he rode 3,254 miles across the southern border of the U.S., and in 2007, he rode 6,500 miles up the East Coast and across the northern border, raising nearly $390,000. In total, he's completed more than 12,000 miles around the country's perimeter.

It had all the atmosphere of a public execution straight out of a black-and-white Western. At high noon Friday, nearly a dozen teachers and coaches from Corona del Mar High School, draped in black protective shawls, turned to face their tormentors: hair stylists who shaved their heads in the name of cancer research. As pop music blared from speakers, students emerged from the shadows of their classrooms and gravitated en masse toward the stage as the faculty appeared to the cheers of their students.

C osta Mesa resident Dave Bunnell was angry at it. It took his father's life. Thirty new cases of it are expected each day this year in Orange County. It is cancer and, according to the American Cancer Society, was the second leading cause of death in California in 2007. So Bunnell, along with 96 expected participants, arrived at Newport Beach Country Club Monday for the American Cancer Society's 20th annual Orange County Golf Invitational. Joining Bunnell, a sales manager at Sterling BMW in Newport Beach — one of the event's sponsors — was colleague Steve Army.

Robert Stanley Shomaker 1924 to 2009 Better known as “Bob” Beloved husband of Dr. Joyce Johnson, President of the Wellness Center of America, died on June 10th. Dr. Joyce has lived in Laguna Beach for 15 years. Bob was born in South Dakota, but lived most of his life in Colorado, Texas, Hawaii, and California. His most important childhood events were playing guitar and becoming a Christian. At age 18, the Army discovered he had Tuberculosis so shipped him off to a sanatorium in Kansas.

UCI researchers announced Monday they have made a breakthrough in the treatment of colon cancer. Using a low dosage of a cancer medication DFMO (diflouromethylornithine) with a commercial anti-inflammatory drug Sulindac, researchers were able to reduce the risk of reoccurring colorectal polyps, which are thought to be an early sign of colon cancer, researchers said at the American Assn. for Cancer Research meeting in San Diego. “I think it’s a very good step forward and perhaps a breakthrough,” said Dr. Randall Holcombe, UCI’s director of the office of clinical research and trials.

Consuming small amounts of freeze-dried grape powder can stave off colon cancer, UCI researchers told oncologists at a conference in San Francisco Friday. Grapes contain resveratrol, which previous studies have linked to the most common form of colon cancer. UCI researchers worked with colon cancer patients for their study. They gave one group daily 20 milligram piles of resveratrol, one group 120 grams daily of grape powder mixed with water and a third group 80 grams of grape powder mixed with water.

Rich Saul's twin brother, Ron, was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago and is still alive. A story published Monday reported the contrary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . For the past 16 years, Rich Saul has been helping out with the Orange County Golf Invitational, but for the past eight, his efforts have come with more meaning. Saul, a former Pro Bowl center for the Los Angeles Rams, has been battling cancer for the past eight years. The disease hasn't just taken a toll on his body, but also on his family.

Visitors to the Hoag Hospital Cancer Center were treated to an unusual spectacle Monday. A giant colon has taken up residency in the center's main lobby, grabbing the attention of curious visitors who touched, peered in and even crawled through the larger-than-life intestine. The exhibit is meant to be fun, said nurse Elia Perez. But it is also meant to raise awareness about the importance of a regular colonoscopy screening to detect early signs of colorectal cancer. In 2005, about 147,000 people were diagnosed with colon cancer and another 56,000 people lost their lives because of the illness, Perez said.