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Lung Cancer

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BOCA RATON, Fla--Docetaxel (Taxotere) is showing promising single-agent activity in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), said James Rigas, MD, director, Thoracic Oncology Program, Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Dart-mouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (Lebanon, NH).

NEW YORK--Cancer Care, Inc. is offering a new booket, Learning About Lung Cancer: It Helps to Understand, that attempts to close the "information gap" with regard to how lung cancer is diagnosed and treated, as well as provide help and tips on how to cope with medical and nonmedical issues faced by lung cancer patients.

VIENNA--Although the majority of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are too ill to tolerate platinum therapy, the more benign safety profile of gemcitabine (Gemzar) is opening up the possibility of palliative chemotherapy for a wider group of NSCLC patients.

The treatment of potentially curable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is currently evolving. Drs. Greco and Hainsworth provide information about the potential use of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery in patients with stage IB-IV NSCLC. The authors have taken on the challenging task of summarizing recent clinical research, referencing current clinical studies, and providing some predictions on the outcomes of ongoing clinical investigation.

In recent years, the treatment of many patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has evolved into a multidisciplinary effort combining the talents of medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, and thoracic surgeons. Prospective, randomized trials have demonstrated improved survival rates in patients with locally advanced disease who are treated with cisplatin (Platinol)-based induction chemotherapy prior to radiation therapy[1,2] or surgery.[3,4] However, interpretation of these and other studies and application of the findings to the management of an individual patient require a thorough understanding of prognostic factors and staging.

ROCKVILLE, Md-The FDA has given final approval to the Xillix LIFE-Lung Fluorescence Endoscopy System for use in detecting early lung cancer. Xillix Technologies Corp., of Richmond, British Columbia, plans to market the system worldwide in early 1997.

Patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are treated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy live longer, on average, than patients treated with radiation therapy alone, according to results of a long-term follow-up study by Robert O. Dillman, md, and colleagues at the Hoag Cancer Center, Newport Beach, California. In the study report appearing in the September 4th issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the authors recommend that cisplatin (Platinol)-based chemotherapy followed by radiation therapy be considered the current standard treatment for advanced (stage III) disease.

Gemcitabine (Gemzar), recently approved by the FDA as a treatment IND for patients with advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer, has shown promise in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), both as a single agent and in combination with other chemotherapy drugs, Alan Sandler, md, reported at a symposium held at the Chemotherapy Foundation meeting last year.

BETHESDA, Md--Although there is some "good news" on the tobacco front--lung cancer deaths have declined in one US demographic group--the bad news continues to pour in from all over the globe, an NCI official told a symposium sponsored by NCI and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

ASCO--Cycling docetaxel (Taxo-tere) treatments with cisplatin (Platinol) and vinorelbine (Navelbine) achieves better response rates in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients than can be expected from any of the components used alone or in traditional combination, according to the multicenter pilot study presented by Jean Viallet, MD, at a pos-ter session of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Philadelphia

ASCO--Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients receiving paclitaxel (Taxol) plus cisplatin (Platinol) had longer survival and achieved high-er rates of response than patients receiving a current standard chemotherapy regimen of cisplatin plus etoposide (VePesid) in a multicenter phase III trial, Phillip Bonomi, MD, reported at a scientific session of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Philadelphia.

Dr. Krasna provides a thoughtful review of thoracoscopy as an emerging technique for the staging of patients with lung and esophageal cancers. In lung cancer, thoracoscopy can be used as a complement to cervical mediastinoscopy in the evaluation of mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes. This is especially true in patients who have left-sided neoplasms with enlarged lymph nodes in the aortico-pulmonary window--a region typically inaccessible to cervical mediastinoscopy.

The incidence of breast cancer has risen steadily over the past several decades. Breast cancer is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer deaths among women; 46,000 women died of breast cancer in the United States alone in 1995. Despite efforts to improve the survival of women with metastatic breast cancer with currently available chemotherapeutic agents, results remain disappointing. The primary use of such agents continues to be for palliation, not cure.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla--One of the most debated topics of the preliminary practice guidelines prepared by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has been the level of surveillance after treatment, and this was also the case with the preliminary guideline for small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), presented by George D. Demetri, MD, at the NCCN's first annual conference.

For patients with either limited or extensive small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), dose intensification of VICE chemotherapy affords a significant survival advantage without increasing the danger of sepsis or drug-related death, W.P. Steward, MD, said at the Eighth Annual European Cancer Conference (ECCO-8).