According to a December 2005 report by Reuters Health, a recent study suggests that, from 1990 to 2002, the increased use of chemotherapy with surgery coincides with improved survival for advanced colon cancer patients. In fact, the use of adjuvant chemotherapy for these cancer patients rose from 39 to 64 percent during this interval, while the number of patients surviving for five years increased by 16 percent. The study, conducted by J. Milburn Jessup, M.D. and others from the National Cancer Institute, involved data from nearly 86,000 patients in 560 hospital cancer registries. During the study period, “the difference in survival between surgery alone and surgery plus chemotherapy increased,” Dr. Jessup told Reuters Health. Moreover, Dr. Jessup suggested that present-day survival rates may be even better, noting that the data used in the study predated the development and use of newer and perhaps more effective chemotherapy agents.For the complete Reuters Health report, please click here.