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WASHINGTON-Donna Przepiorka, MD, PhD, formerly of the Baylor College of Medicine and now at the University of Tennessee, Memphis, has become chair of the Food and Drug Administration’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC). She replaces Stacy Nerenstone, MD, of Hartford Hospital in Connecticut, whose term expired. Dr. Przepiorka’s research has focused largely on transplantation immunobiol-ogy and she has a background in cellular and gene therapy. Her term as committee chair will end on June 30, 2004.

ORLANDO-Polysaccharides (a type of carbohydrate) are the most highly expressed antigens on the surface of cancer cells, and they can be uniquely effective targets for immunotherapy, said Philip Livingston, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Cornell University Medical College.

WASHINGTON-Managing the associated neurological problems of brain tumors is a crucial issue for oncology nurses, said Karen Baumgartner, MSN, APRN, BC, advance practice nurse in the Neuro Center at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. If nurses fail to notice the signs indicating increased intracranial pressure (ICP), neurological injury and even death can result.

ORLANDO-The activity of rituxi-mab (Rituxan) in lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin’s disease (LPHD) warrants additional investigation, according to a presentation at the 38th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (abstract 1052).

ORLANDO-Alemtuzumab (Campath-1H) administered subcutaneously produced an overall response rate of 87% among 38 patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL) in a phase II study conducted at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, On-tario, Canada-The cardiotoxicity of anthracyclines can occur many years after treatment for childhood cancer. Studies exploring methods to prevent these effects were presented at the 7th International Conference for Long-Term Complications of Treatment of Children and Adolescents for Cancer, hosted by Ros-well Park Cancer Institute.

Every 3 years, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) asks researchers, advisory panels, and advocacy groups to recommend "extraordinary opportunities for investment," which it defines as "broad-based, overarching areas of scientific pursuit that hold tremendous promise for significantly expanding our understanding of cancer."

Since the implementation of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the United States in 1996, the number of persons diagnosed with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and the number of deaths among persons with AIDS have

Genentech Inc, Idec Pharmaceuticals, and Roche recently announced the initial results of a randomized multicenter study of extended therapy with single-agent rituxan (Rituximab) in patients with chemotherapy-naive and relapsed indolent non-

ORLANDO-Daily doses of oral ibandronate (investigational, Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel, Switzerland), a highly potent third-generation bisphosphonate, significantly reduced the incidence of new skeletal complications in breast cancer patients with metastatic bone disease enrolled in a phase III trial. The mean number of new events per patient was 1.36 for women taking oral ibandronate at 20 mg/d and 1.43 at 50 mg/d, compared with 2.23 for women taking placebo.

National cancer advocacy groups leveled harsh criticism at Senate negotiators from both parties for their failure to include any significant enhancements of beneficiary entitlements in a pending Medicare legislative package. Ellen Stovall, president of the

OTTAWA, Canada-Radiation oncology has always been a resource- and data-intensive discipline, and the increasing use of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) has made the process of delivering radiation to cancer patients even more complex.

Although the title might be slightly misleading, Oncologic Imaging is actually a compendium of information on the detection, diagnosis, imaging, staging, and treatment of cancer. This is the second edition of a multiauthor book that first appeared in

ORLANDO-Randomized clinical trial data presented at the 38th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (abstract 1436) show that pain control medications delivered through an implantable intrathecal drug delivery system (IDDS) are significantly more effective than similar drugs given as oral or injectable formulations.

NEW ORLEANS-Fox Chase Cancer Center investigators presented further support for yearly mammograms in women age 40 and older at the 44th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO abstract plenary 2).

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, New Jersey-Genta Incorporated has initiated a new clinical trial with its lead anticancer drug Genasense in patients with multiple myeloma. The study will assess the safety and efficacy of Gena-sense in combination with thalidomide (Thalomid) and dexamethasone in patients who have failed standard therapy. The trial will be conducted at the University of Maryland and is sponsored by the NCI pursuant to Genta’s Cooperation Research and Development Agreement (CRADA). Genasense works by inhibiting the production of Bcl-2, a protein made by cancer cells that blocks chemotherapy-induced cell death. Genasense may enhance the effectiveness of current anticancer treatments, Genta said in a news release.

SAN FRANCISCO-An investigational test kit (Apomate) to measure apoptosis may be able to detect a positive or negative response to chemotherapy within just a few days of initiation of treatment, allowing nonresponders to switch quickly to a different treatment.

Women who received radiation therapy for Wilms’ Tumor are at increased risk of complications during pregnancy and, therefore, should be carefully assessed and monitored by their obstetricians. These conclusions were part of a National Wilms’

MILAN, Italy-Giving interleukin-2 (IL-2, aldesleukin, Proleukin) in combination with the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab (Rituxan) may increase the antibody’s efficacy in lymphoma patients, apparently because it increases the number of natural killer (NK) cells. Researchers at a Clinical Development Conference sponsored by Chiron Corporation suggested that IL-2 be studied as a regular addition to rituximab therapy and also as an addition to rituxi-mab/chemotherapy regimens.

WASHINGTON-President Bush has nominated Mark B. McClellan, MD, PhD, who has held senior positions in both the Clinton and current Bush Administrations, as Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If confirmed by the Senate, Dr. McClellan will assume a major health post that has remained vacant since the resignation of Jane E. Henney, MD, in January 2001.

ROCKVILLE, Maryland-The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will consolidate the review of all new pharmaceutical products in its Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) by transferring the drug review duties currently handled by the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research to CDER. Some reviews of biologics had gone to CDER previously, including those intended for use as oncologic drugs.

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ontario, Canada-Female survivors of childhood cancer are generally at increased risk of developing secondary breast cancer years after their initial disease. New research, presented at the 7th International Conference for Long-Term Complications of Treatment of Children and Adolescents for Cancer, hosted by Roswell Park Cancer Institute, is shedding light on this issue and helping practitioners determine how to best screen this population.

WASHINGTON-Tobacco retailers continue to reduce sales to children under age 18, as mandated by federal law. Overall, the national violation rate fell to 16.3% in 2001 from 40.1% in 1996, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

BOSTON-Researchers from the Awareness of Neutropenia in Chemotherapy (ANC) Study Group report that older cancer patients are at greater risk of death due to chemotherapy-related febrile neutropenia. They recommend that the elderly receive prophylactic colony-stimulating factors (CSFs) as adjuncts to CHOP and CHOP-like chemotherapy regimens.

NEW ORLEANS-Treatment with the radioimmunotherapy drug ibritumo-mab tiuxetan (Zevalin) appears to be safe and effective for patients with some of the most common types of non-Hodg-kin’s lymphoma (NHL) who have received prior external beam radiotherapy, Roger M. Macklis, MD, said at the 44th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO abstract 240).

WASHINGTON-For patients undergoing bone marrow transplant (BMT), viral respiratory infections can prove fatal. Viral respiratory infection was a contributing factor in two patient deaths during a 17-case viral respiratory outbreak among the staff, patients, and family members of a BMT unit, said Leslie D. Wehrlen, RN, BSN, OCN, clinical research nurse, Clinical Cancer Nursing Department, National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Cancer-related thrombocytopenia is a clinical problem. Unfortunately, the qualitative nature and quantitative extent of the problem has been poorly defined to date. Without knowing these two parameters, the risk/benefit ratio of any management option for cancer-related thrombocytopenia is impossible to calculate accurately. Drs. Goodnough and DiPersio have done an excellent job of delineating many of the potential risks of managing the problems associated with platelet transfusions.

Drs. Goodnough and DiPersio present an authoritative and informative discussion of the management of thrombocytopenia in the cancer patient, emphasizing the risks of platelet transfusions, the safety of a platelet count threshold of < 10,000/µL for prophylactic transfusions, and issues related to the optimal type of platelet product and dose of platelets. The authors make the important point that although the risk of transmission of viral infections has decreased markedly due to the addition of nucleic acid testing for hepatitis C and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV),[1] sepsis due to bacterial contamination remains a serious risk, particularly for the neutropenic patient.[2] The fever and chills that occur within 6 hours after a platelet transfusion usually are associated with nonhemolytic febrile transfusion reactions, but the more dangerous possibility of bacterial sepsis from contamination should be considered, particularly in the neutropenic patient, and treated empirically until bacterial cultures prove otherwise.

Dr. Nemunaitis gives a scholarly and informative historical review of antineoplastic viral therapy using recombinant DNA biotechnologies. The field predates the polymerase chain reaction and restriction enzymes; it has its roots in observations by Jenner and experiments that are over 100 years old.

Approximately 30 years passed between the first description of a paraneoplastic neurologic disorder[1] and the demonstration of an immunologic pathogenesis for one of these syndromes.[2] In the almost 4 decades since, the paraneoplastic neurologic disorders have been subjected to study far out of proportion to their clinical prevalence. These disorders stimulate clinical research because (1) paraneoplastic neurologic syndromes are frequently the presentation of a malignancy, (2) they may bode well for a more favorable tumor prognosis,[3,4] and most importantly, (3) they yield insight into the workings of malignancy and the pathogenesis of neurologic disorders, particularly neurologic degenerations.