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WASHINGTON-At a congressional briefing titled “The Crisis at Academic Health Centers,” Samuel O. Thier, MD, described the situation succinctly. “We are going through tough times,” said the president and chief executive officer of Partners Health Care Systems, Inc., which resulted from the merger of Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s hospitals.

BETHESDA, Md-The National Cancer Institute has given four awards totaling $932,000 to four existing NCI contractors to develop research to understand, and pilot programs to breach, the “Digital Divide” that prevents many members of minorities from accessing cancer information on the Internet.

WASHINGTON-Two decades after the first case of AIDS was recognized in the United States, “the nation does not have a comprehensive, effective, and efficient strategy for preventing the spread of HIV,” the Institute of Medicine (IOM) said in a new report.

PHILADELPHIA-Better standards of production are needed for herb-based medicines, says a scientist who helped develop a method of harvesting paclitaxel (Taxol) from yew tree needles.

SEWICKLEY, Pennsylvania-The FDA has granted NOMOS Corporation clearance to market the Peregrine Monte-Carlo-based radiation dose calculation system, licensed from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where it was developed. Peregrine is a computer-based system for quick calculation, in three dimensions, of radiation doses for use with complex intensity-modulated radiotherapy treatment plans. Monte Carlo is a mathematical technique that simulates the trillions of radiation particles that enter the body during treatment. It selects a random sample of these particles and tracks them through a computer model of the radiation-delivery device and the patient’s CT scans to create a detailed map of the dose distribution (see image). NOMOS will initially incorporate Peregrine into its CORVUS inverse treatment planning system, and will then develop a stand-alone version to work with other treatment planning systems.

DIJON, France-In patients with a history of colorectal adenomas, use of a soluble fiber supplement (ispaghula husk) appears to have an adverse effect on recurrence, said Jean Faivre, MD, of the European Cancer Prevention Organi-sation (ECP) Study Group. The study also showed that calcium supplementation produced a modest but not significant reduction in the risk of adenoma recurrence.

A 67-year-old female developed metastatic angiosarcoma involving the scalp, left neck, and pulmonary nodules. Disease progression occurred while she received two cycles of doxorubicin/ifosfamide (Ifex)/mesna (Mesnex), complicated by sepsis

WASHINGTON-A federal judge has narrowed the government’s lawsuit against the tobacco industry but has allowed the Justice Department to proceed with its case using a federal racketeering statute.

TORONTO-Preliminary clinical trial results show that treatment with caspofungin acetate (Cancidas, investigational) produced a favorable response in 41% of patients with life-threatening invasive aspergillosis who were not responding to or were intolerant of other antifungal therapy.

The image shows the radiation therapy treatment plan for a seven-field conformal boost to the prostate, using Peregrine, a 3D Monte-Carlo-based dose calculation system. Monte Carlo simulates the trillions of radiation particles that enter the body during treatment and develops a detailed computerized map of the radiation dose the patient will receive. The technology, developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and licensed to NOMOS Corporation, has received FDA clearance for marketing. Image courtesy of NOMOS and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California.

Caspofungin (Cancidas) is being developed by Merck as an intravenous medicine for systemic fungal infections, such as those caused by Aspergillus and Candida, Merck said in a press release. These infections, once considered unusual, have risen in number over the past 20 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

ROCKVILLE, Md-Cell Therapeutics, Inc.’s Trisenox (arsenic trioxide) injection has won marketing approval from the Food and Drug Administration only 3 years after its pivotal phase II trial began.

In 1997 and 1998, the Division of Oncology Drug Products at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved 575 single-patient investigational new drug applications for the use of thalidomide (Thalomid) for advanced malignancies. We subsequently surveyed 544 practitioners with a questionnaire, and received responses from 359 (response rate: 66%) with data on 480 patients.

BETHESDA-The National Cancer Institute will rename and restructure its Office of Special Populations Research as part of its increased efforts to reduce disparities in the prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer among various US subpopulations.

BETHESDA, Md-The President’s Cancer Panel is conducting a series of seven regional meetings to explore the question, “Why don’t all Americans get the best available cancer care?” The panel is seeking to identify specific barriers to care and ways to overcome them.

High-dose chemotherapy with methotrexate offers up to a fivefold increase in survival to patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma. Researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center found that using significantly more methotrexate, while adding drugs that penetrate the blood-brain barrier, improved disease control and survival in patients with newly diagnosed cancer.

The Clinton administration memorandum on coverage of Medicare patient costs in clinical trials, which drew concern from ASCO when the White House published its incipient statement last June, has apparently morphed into a “final national coverage decision”-announced in late September-that most groups are quite happy with. Ellen Stovall, president and CEO of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, says her group is very happy with the coverage document published by HCFA. She does note, however, that there is a need to monitor the new rules HCFA will be developing for coverage of a subgroup of trials-so-called IND-exempt trials run by cancer centers and pharmaceutical companies-that are testing existing drugs for new uses. Some of these trials are extremely legitimate. Some are not. No one in the cancer community wants to see Medicare pay for clinical trials involving the use of tea leaves to cure colon cancer. However, in writing rules meant to exclude Medicare coverage of those kinds of questionable trials, Stovall indicates that it will be important to ensure that those rules, based on imprecise wording, don’t exclude Medicare coverage for legitimate trials.” We will be concerned with how the language develops,” she explained. One other area of possible concern is Medicare’s intention to pay only for trials that have a “therapeutic” objective. That would rule out some phase I trials designed to test the toxicity of a new medication.

Seventeen patients with myeloma (13) or Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia (4) have been treated at our center with a nonmyelosuppressive combination of oral clarithromycin (Biaxin) at 500 mg twice daily, low-dose oral thalidomide

Research suggests that a drug used to relieve nausea in cancer patients can help the most difficult-to-treat alcoholics significantly reduce their drinking. Success with the drug ondansetron (Zofran) comes amid growing search for new medications to help treat a disease that affects some 14 million Americans.

WASHINGTON-Two effective advocates for biomedical research who are retiring from Congress were honored by two advocacy groups for their support of increased funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

This article identifies the professional stressors experienced by nurses, house staff, and medical oncologists and examines the effect of stress and personality attributes on burnout scores. A survey was conducted of 261 house

Technological ad-vances in cancer prevention and therapy have dramatically reduced cancer mortality, yet literacy continues to be a formidable obstacle to the treatment and prevention of cancer. Patients with low literacy skills who are unable to read and comprehend medical information vital to their health cannot take advantage of these innovative early detection programs and treatments.

Interest in thalidomide (Thalomid) has intensified in recent years as research has identified and elucidated its immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, and antiangiogenic properties. In this supplement, we present a selection of abstracts

This year, approximately 40% of the 28,300 patients diagnosed with pancreatic carcinoma in the United States will present with locally advanced disease. Radiotherapeutic approaches are often employed, as these patients

In the phase II study of thalidomide (Thalomid) in the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma multiforme, Marx et al (abstract #613) concluded that there was no correlation with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels and response or

These four studies further establish the remarkable antitumor activity of thalidomide (Thalomid) in a variety of hematologic disorders. This drug was initially used as a nonbarbiturate sedative/hypnotic and antiemetic during pregnancy in the 1950s.

This article identifies the professional stressors experienced by nurses, house staff, and medical oncologists and examines the effect of stress and personality attributes on burnout scores. A survey was conducted of 261 house

Myelodysplastic syndrome patients present with variable cytopenias even though their bone marrows are generally hypercellular. Excessive cytokine-induced apoptosis of hematopoietic cells in the marrows has been proposed as a possible

This article identifies the professional stressors experienced by nurses, house staff, and medical oncologists and examines the effect of stress and personality attributes on burnout scores. A survey was conducted of 261 house

ALBANY, NY-A team of leading oncologists and hematologists has begun a study designed to help physicians more accurately predict and manage neutropenia. The Awareness of Neutropenia in Chemotherapy (ANC) Study Group was formed to develop more accurate prediction models for neutropenia.