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HR1579, introduced by Rep. Brown (D-OH), to require providers of home infusion therapy to be licensed and to limit physician referrals for home infusion therapy services in which the physician has a financial interest.

The annual prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults in the United States declined 40% during 1965 to 1990 (from

WASHINGTON--President Clinton has appointed Dr. Richard D. Klausner as director of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Klausner has served as chief, Cell Biology and Metabolism Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, since 1984. He earned his undergraduate degree at Yale and his MD from Duke.

WASHINGTON--The $1 billion cut that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) had anticipated has been shelved for the time being. The Senate voted 85 to 14 on a resolution by Sen. Mark Hatfield (R-OR) to spare NIH from the need to make serious cuts in a wide variety of programs and initiatives.

NEW YORK--Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has launched Cancer Smart, the first consumer newsletter devoted to cancer. "Many people today have taken an increasingly bigger share of responsibility for keeping themselves healthy," said James B. Dougherty, MD, editor of Cancer Smart and associate chairman for clinical affairs, Department of Medicine. "Reading Cancer Smart is an opportunity to gain relevant information about cancer to improve their own well-being," he added.

BETHESDA, Md--One of the discoverers of HIV, Robert C. Gallo, MD, is leaving the National Cancer Institute after 30 years, most recently as head of the Division of Tumor Cell Biology.

WASHINGTON--Many of the patients who will die of cancer this year will receive care in the nation's intensive care units. Despite heralded advances in drug research and medical technology, fewer than one fourth of cancer patients admitted to an ICU survive for 6 months, Mark S. Gelder, MD, said at the American Cancer Society National Conference on Gynecologic Cancers.

ANNANDALE, NJ--Medarex, Inc. and Ciba-Geigy, Ltd. have entered into an alliance for developing and marketing Medarex's MDX-210 Bispecific product. Medarex will be primarily responsible for development through phase II trials, and Ciba will be responsible for phase III trials, regulatory approvals, and commercial launch.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla--The French response to the FDA ban on silicone breast implants was to issue a strong recommendation to plastic surgeons to stop using silicone-gel-filled implants or polyurethane prostheses. Now that stricter manufacturing controls are in place, that recommendation has been canceled, and today silicone implants are available in most European countries, Jean-Yves Petit, MD, said at the 12th Annual International Breast Cancer Conference.

LOS ANGELES--In response to the questions being raised by new medical technologies and managed health care, City of Hope has established its Institute for Applied Health Care Ethics on its 100-acre Duarte, Calif, campus.

STANFORD, Calif--Screening surgeons for HIV to protect their patients would not be cost effective, compared to the cost of most accepted health-care interventions, says Dr. Douglas Owens, professor of health research and policy, Stanford University School of Medicine.

MCLEAN, Va--The way clinical trials are planned and conducted often means the difference between success and failure in winning FDA marketing approval for a drug or medical device, industry leaders said at a conference sponsored by the Cambridge Healthtech Institute, Waltham, Mass.

Genetics Institute, Inc. announced positive results of a phaseII study of recombinant human interleukin-eleven (rhIL-11). In

Variations in structural proteins found in the nucleus of prostatecells may indicate whether a cell will become cancerous, according

BASLE, Switzerland--Sandoz Ltd. has entered into a merger agreement with Genetic Therapy, Inc (Gaithersburg, Md) with a cash tender offer valued at $295 million. The acquisition "puts Sandoz at the forefront of gene therapy technology," said Daniel Vasella, MD, CEO of Sandoz Pharma.

A new minimally invasive surgery can provide better diagnosisand staging of cancer, according to a presentation at the 48th

MINNEAPOLIS--Breast imaging with FDG PET can identify breast cancer with a high specificity, a German study has shown. This technique visualizes malignant tumor tissue by increased FDG (fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose) uptake (see image on " FDG PET Imaging Visualizes Malignant Breast Lesions"), said Norbert Avril, MD, of the Department of Nuclear Medicine, Technical University, Munich.

The signs and symptoms of brachial plexopathy are commonly seen in patients with cancer and pose a formidable management challenge. Tumor infiltration and radiation injury to the brachial plexus are the most common causes, and the distinction between the two has obvious prognostic and therapeutic implications. Dr. Kori reviews the clinical features and treatment options for each of these clinical entities and attempts to define the criteria that differentiate them.

Brachial plexus dysfunction is a well-known complication of cancer. Metastatic brachial plexopathy (MBP) and radiation injury to the brachial plexus (RBP) are the most common causes. The distinction between MBP and

WASHINGTON--The House of Representatives Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health heard opinions on what sort of final regulations should be issued concerning the recently expanded self-referral laws: namely, enforce the bill as written (HCFA's view) or add major exceptions to the bill (the AMA's view).

S5755, an amendment (no. 603) introduced by Sen. McConnell (R-KY), to reform the health-care liability system and improve health-care quality through establishment of quality assurance programs, was agreed to by voice vote.

ASCO LOS ANGELES--In a multicenter phase II study of mitogua-zone (MGBG) in relapsed or refractory AIDS-related non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), more than one quarter of patients responded to the drug, and all of the complete responders experienced an increase in their CD4 counts, Alexandra M. Levine, MD, reported at ASCO.

Increasing numbers of Americans are using smokeless tobacco, because they think it is a safe alternative to cigarettes. Upcoming federal guidelines on smoking prevention and cessation should include information about the health risks

BETHESDA, Md--Acting NCI Director Edward Sondik announced that the institute is committed to increasing participation of minorities in clinical trials. However, cancer researchers have had only limited success in this effort, he said.

adiation therapy before surgery increases survival without increasing long-term complications for patients with rectal cancer, according to a 10-year study at Tufts University presented at the recent meeting of the American Radium Society. Resection

SAN DIEGO, Calif--Investigators have demonstrated that umbilical cord blood contains cells capable of instituting long-term, donor-derived hematopoiesis--with a very low probability of producing graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), John E. Wagner, MD, said at a conference sponsored by the University of California, San Diego Cancer Center and the UCSD School of Medicine.

New statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show Utah and Nevada (so close in proximity, so distant in life-style) at the top and bottom, respectively, of a ranking of states by smoking-related mortality (see table). The

WASHINGTON--Medicare and Medicaid are hard pressed to stay ahead of profiteers bent on cheating the system administered by the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA).

HOUSTON--Spanish-speaking oncologists from around the world stopped off in Houston on their way home from the ASCO meeting to learn more about state-of-the-art cancer care--in their own language.

BETHESDA, Md--The National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB) will seriously consider the suggestion of one of its members to send a strong message to Congress regarding cancer research.