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BETHESDA, Md-Troubled by the small size of the studies presented to it, the FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) declined to vote on whether to make a recommendation regarding DepoCyt (cytarabine lipid-particle injection, DepoTech Corp.).

PHILADELPHIA-A roundtable discussion on who should pay for clinical trials, planned for the third annual conference of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), promises fireworks but also holds out the possibility of consensus building.

NEW YORK-The smoking cessation interventions outlined in the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) Smoking Cessation Clinical Practice Guideline are more cost effective than many other preventive interventions such as mammography or cholesterol treatment, Michael Fiore, MD, MPH, said at a briefing sponsored by the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association.

WASHINGTON-Amid political bickering on Capitol Hill over the proposed tobacco settlement and the gloomy prediction of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss) that legislation needed to implement the pact stands only a 30% chance of passage, a powerful Senate chairman gently warned public health groups that discord within their own ranks isn’t helping the situation.

Scientists from Geron Corporation (Menlo Park, California) and the University Medical Center at Dallas recently reported their successful extension of the life-span of normal human cells using the enzyme telomerase. In a paper published in the January 16, 1998, issue of Science, the researchers explained that introduction of an active telomerase gene into normal mortal cells resulted in the lengthening of telomeres and a marked increase in the life-span of the cells, making the cells potentially immortal.

Scientists at the City of Hope Cancer Center have uncovered evidence that abnormal DNA structures may be responsible for one of the earliest detectable chemical changes associated with the development of cancer.

Clinical practice guidelines for gynecologic oncology were developed under the direction of the Medical Practice and Ethics Committee of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists (SGO) in concert with national trends in medical care in the United States. The members of this committee are listed in Table 1, along with other individuals who contributed to the development of the guidelines. The guidelines, which were distributed in booklet form to the SGO membership in 1996, are being reprinted in this and successive issues of oncology for distribution to the oncology community at large.

SAN FRANCISCO-AIDS mortality fell by 60% in California in the first 6 months of 1997, a much larger drop than the 26% decline seen nationally from 1995 to 1996, the last period for which national figures are available.

CHICAGO-Three-dimensional digital mammography appears a promising technique in helping confirm benign disease in women with suspicious x-ray mammograms, Andrew Maidment, PhD, said at the 83rd Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

A revised version of the Manual for Radiation Oncology Nursing Practice and Education is now available from the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS). The revised manual outlines a radiation therapy course and an associated clinical practicum.

The Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) announces the publication of Psychosocial Dimensions of Oncology Nursing Care. The module, which will be available in early 1998, addresses the psychosocial aspects that affect the patient with cancer and provides practical interventions.

BETHESDA, Md-In response to the difficult and complex issues affecting cancer survivors, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has created a new training program, The Cancer Journey: Issues for Survivors. It is designed for health professionals in training roles to educate their peers about the many issues cancer survivors face.

One of the national health objectives for the year 2000 is to reduce the prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults to no more than 15% (objective 3.4). To assess progress toward meeting this objective, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) analyzed self-reported information about cigarette smoking among US adults from the Year 2000 Objectives Supplement of the 1995 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). This report summarizes the findings of this analysis, which indicate that, in 1995, 24.7% (47.0 million) of adults were current smokers.

SANTA MONICA, Calif-Currently, the cost of malpractice premiums is low, compared with rates in the 1980s. However, these decreased rates are more the effect of market competition than any reduction in the financial exposure physicians and insurers face.

In response to the difficult and complex issues affecting cancer survivors, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has created a new training program, The Cancer Journey: Issues for Survivors. It is designed for health professionals in training roles to educate their peers about the many issues survivors face.

ROCKVILLE, Md-The FDA has amended its regulations for testing the carcinogenicity of compounds used in food-producing animals to eliminate the specific requirement for “oral, chronic, dose-response studies.” The new wording states that bioassays “must be designed to assess carcinogenicity and to determine the quantitative aspects of any carcinogenic response.”

NEW YORK-The family of the founder of US Healthcare is giving the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center $100 million for cancer research. It is thought to be the largest gift of research money ever given to a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and the second largest gift given to the University of Pennsylvania.

SAN DIEGO-A continuum of inpatient-outpatient care (IPOP) for adult patients with hematologic malignancies undergoing bone marrow transplant (BMT) lowered costs to insurers by 7.1% without significantly shifting costs to patients in a study from Johns Hopkins.

Smoking kills more than 430,000 people each year in the United States and is currently estimated to be responsible for 30.5% of all cancer-related deaths in our society. The majority of these deaths could be prevented,

Dr. Connors has written an excellent review of the management of five unusual sites of lymphomatous involvement. Several basic principles are illustrated in his discussion of rare entities:

Smoking kills more than 430,000 people each year in the United States and is currently estimated to be responsible for 30.5% of all cancer-related deaths in our society. The majority of these deaths could be prevented,

Malignant diseases of the vulva account for an estimated 3% to 5% of gynecologic neoplasia. The pathologic variants are many (Table 1). Squamous cell cancers account for 85% to 90% of these neoplasms. Melanoma, Bartholin gland cancer, Paget’s disease, and the various sarcomas are the other principal neoplasms. The preinvasive forms of the squamous cancer tend to occur in younger women and may be associated with in situ lesions of the cervix, vagina, perineum, and anus.

Since the first cases of AIDS-associated Kaposi’s sarcoma (AIDS/KS) were described in the medical literature in 1981,[1] various local and systemic therapies have been used in efforts to control this most common HIV-associated neoplasm. Many reviews have been published about the treatment of AIDS/KS, but almost all of them have been written by authors representing a single medical specialty, whether it be medical oncology, dermatology, or radiation oncology.

Dr. Connors provides an excellent overview of several sites of extranodal lymphoma, which represent an unusual presentation of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He outlines an organized, phased approach to diagnosis, staging, and treatment, emphasizing interdisciplinary management. In this review, we will add some perspectives from the Stanford experience.

The article by Dr. Connors is an excellent overview of lymphomas involving five sites: the eye, central nervous system (CNS), sinuses, testes, and stomach. The author emphasizes that these lymphomas present unique management challenges even to the experienced oncologist. The tumors are difficult to diagnose, resistant to treatment, or, in the case of gastric lymphoma, occasionally associated with a causative organism that warrants antibiotic treatment.

Smoking kills more than 430,000 people each year in the United States and is currently estimated to be responsible for 30.5% of all cancer-related deaths in our society. The majority of these deaths could be prevented,

The staging and treatment of the common presentations of malignant lymphoma are readily familiar to experienced medical oncologists and hematologists. However, because of their rarity and variable and unusual

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC-Toxicology has come to the Web in the form of a new service from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The Environmental Health Information Service, available through libraries and by subscription, includes the NIEHS journal Environmental Health Perspectives and specialized supplements. Subscription rates are available at ehis@niehs.nih.gov.

Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) is an AIDS-defining neoplasm characterized by the development of lesions that histologically consist of proliferating spindle cells, vascular channels, and inflammatory cells.[1] The typical early presentation consists of painless pink, red, or purple macules or nodules on the skin surface or in the oral cavity. Although the presence of a few skin lesions is not life-threatening, even limited cutaneous KS can have an enormous psychosocial impact, particularly when the lesions occur on exposed areas.

For more than 25 years, chemotherapy has been the cornerstone of treatment for small-cell lung cancer. Many studies have tested a wide variety of drugs in different combinations, resulting in a number of standard