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Background: Late diagnosis of cancer in CD often occurs, and the prognosis is poor. The primary aim of this study was to assess the relationship between clinical presentation and diagnosis of intestinal adenocarcinoma in CD; the secondary aim was to evaluate the timing of cancer occurrence in CD patients.Patients and Methods: Medical records of 12 consecutive patients with intestinal adenocarcinoma in CD and of 79 consecutive CD patients undergoing bowel surgery were reviewed. Presentation symptoms were analyzed as possible predictors. Timing of intestinal adenocarcinoma occurrence in patients with CD was analyzed including all the 347 consecutive patients that had undergone surgery for CD in our institute from January 1984 to June 2008. Life table analysis and uni/multivariate analyses were performed.Results: Ten men and two women underwent surgery for intestinal cancer in CD with a median age of 50 years (31-68). Carcinomas were localized in the terminal ileum in four cases, right colon in three, transverse colon in one, sigmoid colon in one, rectum in two, and an anorectal fistula in one. Only three patients were pre-operatively diagnosed with cancer. At multivariate analysis only age (OR 1.057 (95% CI 0.999-1.107), p = 0.05) and obstruction (OR 6.530 (95% CI 1.533-27.806), p = 0.01) significantly predicted cancer diagnosis. The risk rate (RR) for cancer occurrence started to rise at the end of the third decade of life (RR = 0.005). The analysis of risk rate for cancer occurrence during overt CD showed that it is initially high at onset (RR = 0.001) and after two other peaks at 150 months from onset, it began to rise again. The presence of Crohn's colitis was associated to a significant risk of cancer (HR = 4.790, p = 0.009) while the use of 5-ASA resulted to be a protective factor against cancer occurrence (HR = 0.122, p = 0.013).Discussion: In CD, rectal bleeding, the most common alarm symptom for intestinal cancer, is not useful for an early diagnosis. CD patients presenting with an older age and obstruction should be thoroughly investigated to rule out neoplastic lesions. There is probably no safe interval of CD where surveillance for intestinal cancer can be omitted. In the meantime, even in absence of active disease, all CD patients should undergo therapy with 5-ASA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tetrathiomolybdate (TTM) is a copper chelator that has also demonstrated antiangiogenic, antifibrogenic and anti-inflammatory actions in preclinical studies. The drug, from the University of Michigan was licensed to Pipex Pharmaceuticals Inc for development for several indications; development of the drug for cancer was later licensed to Attenuon LLC. In a phase III clinical trial, TTM stabilized neurological function in patients with Wilson disease, causing significant recovery in 81% of patients at 3 years post initiation of therapy; a second phase III trial was ongoing at the time of publication. A phase I/II clinical trial demonstrated the efficacy of TTM in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and led the FDA to grant TTM Orphan Drug status for this disease. Several phase II clinical trials had also been completed in patients with various cancers, and revealed mixed efficacy. TTM was also assessed in a phase I clinical trial for age-related macular degeneration, but the results reported from the trial were negative; no further development has occurred for this indication. TTM was assessed for the treatment of psoriasis in a phase II clinical trial, but no data have been reported. At the time of publication, phase II and phase III clinical trials were ongoing in patients with Alzheimer's disease and primary biliary cirrhosis, respectively. The most common clinical side effects observed for TTM over the range of indications have been anemia, neutropenia, leukopenia and transaminase elevations. These side effects were generally resolved with either a dose adjustment or temporary suspension of the dosing regimen. TTM is predicted to most likely find a niche in the therapy of Wilson disease, for which current treatment options are limited.