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EAST HANOVER, New Jersey-The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the Novartis drug Zometa (zoledronic acid for injection) for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma and patients with documented bone metastases from solid tumors, in conjunction with standard antineoplastic therapy.

I had the pleasure of reviewing the 8th edition of Philip Rubin’s Clinical Oncology: A Multidisciplinary Approach for Physicians and Students. This is another in a long line of excellent clinical textbooks edited by Dr. Rubin and associate editor Jacqueline P. Williams, PhD. Dr. Rubin is a pioneer in oncology and, in particular, radiation oncology. The current edition consists of 34 chapters authored by 95 contributors spanning all oncologic specialties and numerous institutions.

HOUSTON-Physicians at Ben Taub General Hospital, Houston, noticed that an unusual number of patients were presenting with lymphoma as their first AIDS-defining event. This observation prompted a retrospective study of all HIV-positive patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma presenting between 1989 and 2000.

ROCKVILLE, Maryland-For the first time, the US Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of a radioisotope attached to a monoclonal antibody for the treatment of cancer.

WASHINGTON-Despite the enormous progress that researchers have made against cancer, the unequal disease burden borne by minority and under-served populations constitutes "a moral and ethical dilemma for society," said Harold P. Freeman, MD, who chairs the President’s Cancer Panel and also serves as director of the NCI’s Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (CRCHD).

LOS ANGELES-The Lymphoma Research Foundation of America (LRFA) and the New York-based Cure For Lymphoma Foundation (CFL) have merged to become the Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF), the nation’s only organization dedicated solely to funding lymphoma research and providing information, education, and support to all those touched by the disease.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif), whose second husband died of colon cancer, seems to be following in the footsteps of retired Sen.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved zoledronic acid (Zometa) for the treatment of bone complications in patients with multiple myeloma and patients with solid tumors, in conjunction with standard antineoplastic therapy.

ORLANDO-Alemtuzumab (Campath-1H), a humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to CD52, produced a response rate of 29% (including 7% complete responses) in heavily pretreated patients with CD52-expressing hematologic malignancies.

BETHESDA, Maryland-During his first formal meeting with the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB), Andrew C. von Eschenbach, MD, spelled out his leadership philosophy, his intended directions as the new director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and several areas in which he plans to take rapid action.

WASHINGTON-Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif) has introduced legislation to update the National Cancer Act and "form a new battle plan to fight cancer and help us find a cure." Her bill-the National Cancer Act of 2002-would implement a number of the wide-ranging recommendations made last year by the National Cancer Legislation Advisory Committee (NCLAC).

MELVILLE, New York-InTouch magazine, the Good Health Guide to Cancer Prevention and Treatment, has joined forces with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Beginning with the May 2002 issue, ASCO will contribute a regular page to the magazine, which is published six times a year.

HOLLYWOOD, Florida-There were several significant changes to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Hodgkin’s disease guidelines announced at the Seventh Annual NCCN Conference.

A number of molecularly targeted agents directed at critical cell survival and cell proliferation pathways have recently entered clinical evaluation in children with cancer. These agents offer the potential for more effective anticancer therapy while simultaneously diminishing acute and long-term toxic effects. Systematic evaluations of targeted agents are essential to achieving continued improvements in outcome for children with cancer. Brief summaries of the rationale for conducting studies of several agents in children are provided below. Following these summaries is a listing of phase I, phase I/II, phase II, and pilot studies of these and other agents in pediatric populations.

Although liver cancer has a relatively low incidence in the United States, compared with other cancers, it is 10 times more common in many developing countries than in this country.[1] The incidence of liver cancer is highest in sub-Saharan Africa, China, southern Asia, and Japan.[2]

Dr. Armitage is an experienced investigator in both lymphoma research and marrow/stem cell transplantation. As such, he is ideally suited to comment on the attributes of mitoxantrone (Novantrone) in the treatment of malignant lymphoma.

In their article, Drs. Choi and Billings address a number of strategic areas in palliative care. These topics include the definition and scope of the evolving field, the complexities involved in the use of modalities that carry burden or risk (such as artificial nutrition and bowel decompression), and the underappreciated importance of communication skills and a capacity for ethical reasoning.

Dr. Armitage presents a succinct and thorough review of the role of mitoxantrone (Novantrone) in patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). He begins by emphasizing the importance of accurate diagnosis as described in the World Health Organization classification which evolved from the Revised European American Lymphoma classification. Both of these present day classifications are based on the immunologic principles separating lymphomas into B- and T-cell disorders developed in the 1970s by Lennert, Lukes, and Collins.[1,2] His review addresses multiple issues in mitoxantrone therapy, including dose intensity, cardiotoxicity, combination therapy with nucleoside analogs in low-grade lymphomas, the impact of rituximab (Rituxan), therapy for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related lymphoma, and the role of high-dose mitoxantrone as part of a preparative regimen for autologous transplants.

In the United States, hospice and palliative care are two distinct expressions of the hospice interdisciplinary team approach to end-of-life care, which originated in Great Britain in the 1960s. The hospice movement developed largely as a home-care program and alternative to conventional care.

The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has had a dramatic impact on the morbidity and mortality of individuals living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In addition to contributing to declines in the incidence of several opportunistic infections, HAART is affecting the incidences of several acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-defining malignancies.

The development of doxorubicin was an important advance in the treatment of patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). Alternatives to doxorubicin, such as mitoxantrone (Novantrone), have less nonhematologic toxicity and could offer a therapeutic advantage in some situations if similar antilymphoma activity exists. Several combination regimens that include mitoxantrone have been shown to be active.

WASHINGTON-Senator John Breaux and Congresswoman Donna Christianson, speaking at the National Patient Advocate Foundation’s Patient Congress III, called for comprehensive, available health care and health insurance for all, regardless of age, income, or employment status.

Front-line treatment for previously untreated follicular B-cell lymphoma with the iodine-131-labeled anti-CD20 antibody tositumomab (Bexxar) has been reported to result in a 97% response rate and a 74% complete response rate.

WASHINGTON-President Bush’s proposed new budget for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), if enacted by Congress, would complete the 5-year, bipartisan effort to double the agency’s budget over 5 years.

CHICAGO-Computer-aided detection (CAD) has been shown to improve the identification of breast malignancies on film-based mammography in studies involving large databases of films, said Kathryn O’Shaughnessy, PhD, director of clinical and regulatory affairs, R2 Technology, Inc., Los Altos, California. Now, the method has been shown to be equally accurate in the analysis of full-field digital mammography images, she said at the 87th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (abstract 995).

ORLANDO-About one third of "bad prognosis" refractory B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) patients are salvageable with alemtuzumab (Campath-1H), according to a compassionate use study presented at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (abstract 1538).

Autoantibodies against factor VIII are rare but may cause life-threatening bleeding. Up to 30% of inhibitors may resolve spontaneously, but immunosuppressive drugs with possible serious adverse effects and costly factor replacement are usually required. Rituximab (Rituxan), a humanized monoclonal antibody against CD20-positive B cells, has been reported to be beneficial in certain antibody-mediated autoimmune diseases. We describe here four consecutively treated patients whose acquired factor VIII inhibitors responded rapidly to immunosuppressive regimens that included rituximab administered at 375 mg/m² weekly for 2 to 4 weeks.

ROCKVILLE, Maryland-The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the orphan drug Orfadin (nitisinone capsules, Swedish Orphan International) for treating hereditary tyrosinemia type 1 (HT-1), a rare pediatric disease that causes progressive liver failure and liver cancer. In announcing its approval decision, the agency warned that only physicians experienced in treating the disease should prescribe Orfadin. Rare Diseases Therapeutics, Inc., of Nashville, Tennessee, is the drug’s US distributor.

CHICAGO-Highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) has drastically reduced the incidence of primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma in HIV-positive individuals at a French hospital and improved survival in HIV-positive patients who have the brain malignancy.

The optimal therapy for advanced-stage follicular lymphoma is unknown. Combination chemotherapy usually induces remissions in most patients; however, nearly all patients eventually progress and there is no clear plateau on disease-free survival analysis. Single-agent treatment with the monoclonal anti-CD20 antibody rituximab (Rituxan) at 375 mg/m² weekly × 4 doses induces response rates of approximately 50% to 60% in patients with relapsed follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In some patients, the molecular detection of disease by polymerase chain reaction assay may be eliminated following antibody therapy.