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NCAB Objects to Provisions in HHS’ Proposed Privacy Regs

BETHESDA, Md-The National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB) has objected in a letter to several proposed provisions in a new rule mandated by Congress and drafted by the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS). The regulation would set privacy standards governing the release of health information that might reveal the identity of individual patients, and it could significantly affect oncologists whose patients enter clinical trials.

Actiq Useful in Adults Undergoing Bone Marrow Biopsy

NEW ORLEANS-Primarily used for preprocedural analgesia and sedation in children, oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate (Actiq) also works well for adult cancer patients undergoing diagnostic bone marrow aspiration and biopsy, Cheryl Ann Arena, MPH, PA–C, said at her poster presentation at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting.

ODAC Declines to Recommend Approval of Eloxatin

BETHESDA, Md-The Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) declined to vote on whether to recommend that the Food and Drug Administration approve Eloxatin (oxaliplatin, Sanofi Pharmaceuticals) for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced colorectal cancer in combination with fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemotherapy.

Rituximab Is Well Tolerated When Preceded by Chemo

NEW ORLEANS-Toxicity related to rituximab (Rituxan) is greatly reduced in patients with indolent lymphomas when the antibody is given after two cycles of mitoxantrone/cyclophosphamide chemotherapy, Christos Emmanouilides, MD, reported in a poster presentation at the 41st annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

NCPB Urges States to Step Up Tobacco Control Programs

WASHINGTON-The National Cancer Policy Board (NCPB) has a message for states still deciding whether to devote some or all of their tobacco settlement funds to lowering tobacco use: Aggressive, focused control efforts work and save lives. “As states contemplate increasing their tobacco control efforts, many have asked if such programs can make a difference. The evidence is clear: They can,” a new NCPB report says.

FDA Tries to ‘Jump Start’ Pediatric Cancer Drug Trials

ROCKVILLE, Md-A new initiative by the Food and Drug Administration seeks to move more oncology drugs into pediatric testing and onto the market. In a letter sent to drug companies and researchers, and made public, the FDA said that such an effort “merits special consideration” and notes that the “known and potential differences in the biology of pediatric and adult tumors usually will not permit the extrapolation of clinical activity from adults to children.”

Sedation in the Imminently Dying Patient

BySimon Wein, MD

Sedation is a clinically important therapeutic intervention in the imminently dying patient. As the patient with an advanced, irreversible illness nears the end of life, symptoms accumulate that are progressively more difficult to

Sedation in the Imminently Dying Patient

ByAlan C. Carver, MD,Kathleen M. Foley, MD

Over the past decade, increased attention has focused on the care of dying patients. The role of the physician in caring for these patients has been the subject of renewed interest and intense, sometimes passionate, debate. Patient groups have formed to advocate for the promotion of compassion in the care of the dying, and some of these advocacy groups have asserted a fundamental “right” to physician-assisted suicide. The US Supreme Court has ruled against a constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide but has asserted its willingness to reconsider the issue if it learned that dying patients were not receiving appropriate, high-quality end-of-life care.[1]

Rituximab/CHOP Combo Effective in Low-Grade NHL

Among patients with low-grade non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), combining CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) chemotherapy with rituximab (Rituxan) adds therapeutic benefit

PhRMA Criticizes FDA’s Proposed Rule on Antibiotic Approvals

Due to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, physicians have been clamoring for new drug companies to ratchet up antibiotic research and development. Congress had the same concern when it passed the FDA Modernization Act in 1997,

Coaxial Breast Biopsy Device Provides Diagnostic Specimens

CHICAGO-A simple coaxial breast biopsy tool that can be guided by mammography provides a larger tissue specimen than standard core needle biopsies, causes less bleeding and scarring than surgical biopsy, and carries a smaller price than stereotactically guided biopsy procedures, according to Lincoln Russin, MD, who devised the new biopsy tool. Dr. Russin is a radiologist at Noble Hospital, Westfield, Massachusetts, and associate clinical professor of radiology, Yale University.

3D Digital Camera Accurately Calculates Breast Shape, Volume

NEW ORLEANS-A novel imaging system-consisting of a three-dimensional digital camera mounted on a tripod, an LCD display monitor, and a standard desktop computer (see Figure 1)-may be the harbinger of the future of breast surgery,

New Antibiotic Effective in Treating Gram-Positive Bacteremia

Results from the compassionate use program for linezolid (Zyvox), an investigational new antibiotic still under development, show that the drug is effective in the treatment of patients with bacteremia associated with significant gram-positive infections,

Panel Recommends Listing 9 Substances in Carcinogen Report

ARLINGTON, Va-A scientific panel has recommended listing nine substances as either “known” or “reasonably anticipated” to be human carcinogens. If upheld after review, the substances will be listed in the 10th “Report on

State of the Union on Youth Smoking ‘Clearly Not Good’

WASHINGTON-The most comprehensive survey of tobacco use among young people has found that 12.8% of middle school students and 34.8% of those in high school reported using some form of tobacco product in the month prior to answering a questionnaire. Cigarettes were favored by most of the students, with cigars second.