Director Defends NCI Against IOM Assertions
March 1st 1999BETHESDA, Md-National Cancer Institute director Richard D. Klausner, MD, has taken strong exception to two criticisms leveled at NCI in a recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on NIH research programs for minorities and the medically underserved . Dr. Klausner told the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB), “there are clearly either misunderstandings or profound philosophical differences.”
Use of Brachytherapy to Preserve Function in Children With Soft-Tissue Sarcomas
March 1st 1999Dr. Nag and colleagues present an excellent review of several of the techniques of brachytherapy used in both the pediatric and adult populations. The authors are to be commended for their comprehensive summary of the results of the major trials of pediatric brachytherapy in the management of soft-tissue sarcomas.
Lovenox Allows Home Treatment of Acute DVT
March 1st 1999COLLEGEVILLE, Penn-Lovenox (enoxaparin sodium) Injection, from Rhône-Poulenc Rorer Inc., has received FDA approval for the inpatient treatment of acute deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) with or without pulmonary embolism and the outpatient treatment of acute DVT without pulmonary embolism. Both indications require that Lovenox be administered in conjunction with warfarin sodium.
IOM Panel Criticizes NCI Spending on Ethnic Group Research
March 1st 1999Apanel that included top oncologists at some of the nation’s premier cancer centers criticized the National Cancer Institute(NCI) for not looking behind statistics showing that poor people and ethnic minorities have higher cancer rates in some instances. The Institute of Medicine (IOM), which is part of the National Academy of Sciences, chartered the Committee on Cancer Research Among Minorities and the Medically Underserved. Representatives from the Robert Lurie Cancer Center, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and the Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center sat on the committee, which was chaired by M. Alfred Haynes, the former president and dean of the Drew Postgraduate Medical School.
Two Trials Examining Nutrition Strategies to Prevent Colon Cancer
March 1st 1999COLUMBUS, Ohio-A trial sponsored by NOAT (Society for Nutritional Oncology Adjuvant Therapy) is examining the effect of eating high-fiber cereal on patients with colon polyps, Daniel Nixon, MD, president of NOAT, said at the group’s 4th Annual Congress.
Spotlight Again on Alternative Therapies
March 1st 1999Actress Jane Seymour, a strong advocate of alternative cancer therapies, was the headlining witness at hearings of the Government Reform Committee held on February 24. Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), chairman of the committee, held the hearings to find out whether federal agencies-be they health care providers, such as Medicare, or research-based, such as the NCI-are aggressive enough in promoting alternative therapies. Those like Burton, who feel that federal agencies have to be more aggressive, support the “Access to Medical Treatment Act,” a bill promoted in the last two Congresses, and again in this one, by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR). DeFazio’s bill had a hearing in 1998 in Burton’s committee, which has no legislative jurisdiction.
Managed Care Plans to Help Pay Costs of Clinical Trials for Their Members
March 1st 1999WASHINGTON-In an agreement negotiated by the National Institutes of Health and the American Association of Health Plans, the association says it will encourage its members to “reimburse the routine patient-care costs associated with NIH-sponsored clinical trials, provided those costs are not substantially higher than the costs a plan would incur in the course of standard treatment.”
A Restricted-Calorie Diet Reduces Prostate Tumor Growth in Animals
March 1st 1999COLUMBUS, Ohio-Recent experiments with rats showed that a restricted-calorie diet led to reductions in prostate tumor size and progression, Steven K. Clinton, MD, PhD, said at the Society for Nutritional Oncology Adjuvant Therapy (NOAT) meeting. Dr. Clinton is director of Cancer Prevention, James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, Ohio State University
FDA Approves Busulfex Injection
March 1st 1999WASHINGTON-The FDA has approved Orphan Medical’s Busulfex (busulfan) Injection for use in combination with cyclophosphamide as a conditioning regimen prior to allogeneic hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). (See Oncology News International, February 1999, for a report on the Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee’s discussion of the agent and its recommendation to the FDA.)
Optimism Over Anti-HIV Cocktails Tempered by Concerns
March 1st 1999SAN FRANCISCO-Preliminary results of a prospective Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study of nearly 45,000 US patients show a dose-response relationship between anti-HIV regimens incorporating protease inhibitors (highly active antiretroviral therapy or HAART) and decreased HIV-related mortality.
Questionnaire Effectively Assesses Nutritional Status
March 1st 1999COLUMBUS, Ohio-A large research study has validated a short questionnaire for cancer patients designed to assess nutritional risk and to establish a triage system for intervention, Faith Ottery, MD, PhD, president of Ottery & Associates, Oncology Care Consultants, said at the Fourth Annual Congress of the Society for Nutritional Oncology Adjuvant Therapy (NOAT). Dr. Ottery founded NOAT in 1993.
NCAB Faults President’s New NCI Budget
March 1st 1999BETHESDA, Md-The presidentially appointed National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB) has expressed its concern that President Clinton’s proposed budget increase of 2.4% for the National Cancer Institute is inadequate and will seriously damage the National Cancer Program “over the short and long term.”
Campaign Seeks to Ease Oral Impact of Cancer Therapy
March 1st 1999WASHINGTON-About one-third of patients who undergo cancer chemotherapy and/or radiation treatments suffer serious oral complications, many of which could be mitigated. Four federal health agencies have joined together in a national campaign to make oncologists and other health care providers more aware of the problem and how to deal with it.
Rituximab: Correlation Between Effector Cells and Clinical Activity in NHL
March 1st 1999Unlabeled monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) are attractive for the treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) as they may: (1) mediate cytotoxicity with complement (complement-dependent cytotoxicity [CDC]) or effector cells (antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity [ADCC]); (2) effect apoptosis; (3) be less toxic, less immunogenic, and more effective than toxin- or drug-conjugated MoAbs; (4) not require the complex procedures needed for radiolabeled MoAb therapy (RIT); and (5) not produce the myelosuppression typical of high-dose RIT.
Rituximab: First Report of a Phase II Trial in NHL Patients With Bulky Disease
March 1st 1999Rituximab (Rituxan) is the first monoclonal antibody (MoAb) approved for the treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). This anti-CD20 MoAb is effective in inducing apoptosis, complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC), and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). In single-agent studies in relapsed or refractory low-grade or follicular NHL (International Working Formula [IWF] types A-D), an overall response rate (ORR) of 48% has been reported.