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WASHINGTON-During the past 16 years, researchers have developed data that suggest cannabinoid-based drugs may be effective for a variety of medical uses, including pain relief, antiemesis, and appetite stimulation in cancer patients, an Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee has concluded. It warned, however, that such medical uses carry some risks, particularly the harmful effects of smoking marijuana, which it discouraged as a means of delivering medications.

Discovery of a marker that allows tracking of thymus function also shows how the adult immune system might repair itself after being damaged by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas scientists report

ROCKVILLE, Md-Two cancer-related topics are among four new evaluations the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) has asked the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to make. The task force is an independent panel of preventive health experts that evaluates the effectiveness of a wide range of clinical preventive services.

BETHESDA, Md-The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has earmarked $30 million for use over the next 5 years to support a group of projects that will unite research scientists and community leaders in efforts to address disparities in national cancer rates among minorities and other underserved groups.

For the first time, the American Societyof Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is hosting a virtual meeting in conjunction with its 35th

ALEXANDRIA, Va-“The Health Care Finance Agency’s plan to reimburse for outpatient Medicare cancer treatment according to ambulatory payment classifications (APCs) would have a crippling effect on research and development of new drug therapies and lower the quality of care for present and future cancer patients,” Congressman Gene Green, Representative of the 29th District of Texas in the US House of Representatives, said at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC).

BETHESDA, Md-The first human trials of the antiangiogenesis drug endostatin will take place at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. The National Cancer Institute (NCI), which will sponsor the phase I trials, said that the studies will begin in late summer or early fall. Protocols for the two studies had not been worked out at the time of the NCI’s announcement.

As a result of a burgeoning science and an intensive educational campaign that began more than a decade ago, oncologists

Champlin et al review a most interesting topic that has emerged recently; namely, the use of nonmyeloablative conditioning regimens to induce immune-mediated graft-vs-leukemia (GVL) effects, or, in a more general sense, graft-vs-tumor (GVT)

We are entering an extraordinary era in the treatment of patients with indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (NHL). Several decades were devoted to expending resources on comparing combinations and permutations of conventional agents, but with no beneficial impact on survival.

While in Denmark under an ASTRO/ESTRO fellowship travel grant, Dr. Brian Kavanagh spoke with a number of oncologists at the University of Aarhus about their research and the practice of oncology in Denmark. In this essay, he skillfully weaves Danish history, philosophy, customs, and landscape into his interviews with four eminent Danish physicians.

In his 1975 New England Journal of Medicine review article on bone marrow transplantation, Nobel laureate E. Donnall Thomas listed the major obstacles to successful transplantation as donor availability, graft-vs-host disease (GVHD), treatment-

Managed care is transforming numerous aspects of health care delivery, and the specialty of oncology, in particular, is being increasingly affected for several reasons.

The introduction of any new analgesic agent or delivery system is often focused on efficacy of the agent or on considerations of use by health care professionals. Introduction of novel pain technologies should also consider the

The therapeutic benefit of allogeneic hematopoietic transplantation is due largely to an immune graft-vs-malignancy effect. Most of the evidence for such an effect has come from studies of allogeneic transplantation in

The economic considerations relative to neuraxial infusion can be looked at with different types of economic models, including cost-minimization, cost-effectiveness, and cost-benefit analyses. A theoretical predictive model

Pain is the most common symptom of advanced cancer. For most cancer patients, pain can be controlled with

Dr. Peter Staats presented the case of a 15-year-old, 40-kg boy with a primitive neurectodermal tumor located in

Neuraxial infusion therapy is an excellent option for selected patients with severe pain. Both epidural and intrathecal systems can be effective for multiple pains and are titratable, nondestructive, and very safe.

The pharmacologic tailoring guidelines of the World Health Organization represent the accepted treatment algorithm for the management of cancer-related pain syndromes. Unfortunately, the guidelines are only effective

Large surveys of populations with cancer pain indicate that as many as 90% of patients can attain adequate relief of pain using optimal, systemic, opioid-based pharmacotherapy. Skilled clinicians should be able to achieve

Intraspinal drug delivery systems can be effective in controlling intractable pain. However, before these invasive pain therapies are initiated and to avoid or minimize any complications associated with their use, there

There are several million breast cancer survivors worldwide. In the United States, 180,000 women were

Recent trials comparing single-agent vs combination therapy in metastatic breast cancer suggest that it may be time to reconsider the belief that combination chemotherapy is the gold standard of treatment. Based on the

Integrating spirituality into oncology social work practice is appropriate, feasible, and necessary, said Mary Ellen

SAN ANTONIO-For patients with high-grade dysplasia in Barrett’s esophagus, photodynamic therapy (PDT) may be a useful minimally invasive option.

ATLANTA-In 1995, an estimated 47 million adults in the United States were current smokers. A “Profile of Smokers” from the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Facts & Figures-1999 shows that, in that year, smoking prevalence was higher for men (27%) than women (22.6%) and highest among American Indians/Alaskan natives (36.2%), compared with other racial and ethnic groups.

Surgeons at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital are using a new technique to “melt” away cancerous liver tumors. The

NEW YORK-“Up until about 10 years ago, we had no clear vision about what marijuana does in the brain,” Billy R. Martin, PhD, professor of pharmacology, Medical College of Virginia, said at the Third Conference on Pain Management and Chemical Dependency.

WASHINGTON-A triad of federal agencies has launched an educational campaign, known as ‘Screen for Life,” aimed at alerting older Americans to the importance of screening for colorectal cancer and its potential for saving lives.