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GAITHERSBURG, Md-The Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) has unanimously recommended the accelerated approval of Temodal Capsules (temozolomide, Schering-Plough) for the treatment of anaplastic astrocytoma at first relapse following treatment with a nitrosourea and procarbazine. Accelerated approval requires the company to conduct further research to demonstrate the drug’s safety and efficacy.

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) nurses need to educate themselves about their patients’ insurance coverage, said the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) at its Eighth Annual Fall Institute. First, nurses must verify that patients have coverage and

MIAMI BEACH-Ultimately, historians may call the sequencing of the human genome the “defining event of our age,” Barry S. Coller, MD, of Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York, said at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). Dr. Coller, the outgoing president of ASH, chaired a policy symposium on the post-genome world.

HOUSTON-A novel nucleoside analog, known as compound 506U78, has significant activity in mature B-cell and T-cell leukemias, producing responses in patients whose disease is refractory to fludarabine (Fludara) and alkylating agents, investigators from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Glaxo Wellcome, Inc. reported at the ASH meeting.

Due to the psychosexual consequences and significant morbidity associated with the standard radical vulvectomy procedure, there has been a trend toward vulvar conservation in the management of women with vulvar cancer.

BETHESDA, Md-It is widely assumed that monoclonal antibodies will not work in bulky non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) because such agents require direct contact with target antigens expressed on tumor cell surfaces and cannot reach antigens inside tumor masses. Phase II data reported at ASH indicate this may not be true for rituximab (Rituxan).

MIAMI BEACH-As more cancer patients undergo allogeneic and autologous peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) and bone marrow transplants, more long-term complications crop up. Two papers presented at the ASH meeting addressed the late effects of reduced bone density and development of therapy-related leukemia.

During the Oncology Nursing Society’s (ONS) Eighth Annual Fall Institute Meeting, oncology nurses discussed guidelines for implementing clinical trials within office-based community practices.

ANGERS, France-Fludarbine (Fludara) and mitoxantrone (Novantrone) increased the 1-year complete remission rate in indolent lymphomas to 55%, compared with 11% using CHEP (doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vindesine, prednisone) in a multicenter European study reported at the ASH meeting.

CHICAGO-A new regimen that includes an anthracycline plus interferon-alfa-2b (Intron A) as induction chemotherapy of patients with low- or intermediate-grade non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) appears to be as effective as CHOP, Sari Enschede, MD, of Rush Presbyterian-St. Luke Medical Center, said at an ASH poster session.

SAN DIEGO-“Currently, there are no standard response criteria for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, as there are for solid tumors, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and Hodgkin’s disease,” Anonio J. Grillo-López, MD, said at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

HOUSTON-Treatment with topotecan (Hycamtin) and high-dose cytarabine can produce high complete remission rates in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) or chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML), even in patients with poor-prognosis cytogenetic features and secondary MDS, Miloslav Beran, MD, PhD, DVM, of M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, said at ASH.

The University of Michigan (U-M) Comprehensive Cancer Center has launched an Internet site to serve the growing online community of cancer patients seeking trustworthy medical information. The web site, which is located at

SAN FRANCISCO-A new center for alternative medicine, one of only a handful in the nation, will soon open at the Biomedical Research Institution of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), educators announced at a symposium on integrative care.

Findings released from a national survey underscore what cancer patients already know: The fatigue following chemotherapy treatment has a sweeping impact on patients’ physical and emotional health, as well as their economic well-being.

PHILADELPHIA-Patients with intermediate-grade non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) whose disease progresses after high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplant have few options among conventional regimens. However, Donald E. Tsai, MD, PhD, reported at the ASH meeting that the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab (Rituxan) is active in this situation.

NEW YORK-High-dose liposome-encapsulated daunorubicin (DaunoXome) with G-CSF support appears promising in solid tumors, a team led by George D. Demetri, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, reported at the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium.

ATLANTA-It appears that HIV-related thrombocytopenia can be corrected using a form of thrombopoietin to improve platelet production, Richard A. Carter, MD, of Emory University, said at the ASH meeting. He reported results of Amgen’s PEG-rHuMGDF (pegylated recombinant human megakaryocyte growth and development factor) in six HIV-infected thrombocytopenic patients.

HOUSTON-Long-term follow-up of the rituximab (Rituxan) pivotal trial in relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) shows a median response duration of almost a year. The anti-CD20 chimeric monoclonal antibody was approved last year for use in relapsed or refractory low-grade or follicular NHL.

HOPKINTON, Mass-A new breast mapping system under development by Assurance Medical is designed to provide physicians with an objective, quantitative approach to the clinical breast examination. In essence, it allows the physician to visualize what is felt on the manual exam.

HOUSTON-There is some feeling among oncologists that treatment of relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) with CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) may have gone about as far as it can go. Variations on standard CHOP have produced little improvement, and new approaches are clearly needed.

GAITHERSBURG, Md-ODAC has declined to recommend that the FDA approve Prograf (tacrolimus, Fujisawa Healthcare) for the prophylaxis of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in patients receiving allogeneic bone marrow transplants (BMT).

BETHESDA, Md-Few people on Capitol Hill-or off-were aware of a brief provision written into an appropriations act in the waning days of last fall’s budget battles. Now the research community, including the National Cancer Institute and the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB), is assessing the legislation’s potential damage and how best to soften its blow.

BETHESDA, Md-Molecular complete remissions of follicular lymphoma have been achieved with use of a patient-specific vaccine, Maurizio Bendandi, MD, reported at the plenary session of the American Society of Hematology annual meeting.

BETHESDA, Md-Low-grade lymphomas usually respond to initial chemotherapy but almost inevitably relapse. Each subsequent chemotherapy regimen produces a shorter response. Research presented at the American Society of Hematology meeting suggests that this may not be the case with the anti-CD20 antibody rituximab (Rituxan).

In managing cancer pain, an alternative to the oral route of opioid administration may be considered under several circumstances. For example, the oral route may not be feasible due to impaired swallowing, gastrointestinal obstruction, poor

The practicing medical oncologist is faced with several options when selecting opioid analgesics. As Drs. Mercadante and Fulfaro underscore, when all routes of administration are available, the oral route is preferred.

WASHINGTON-Just when the tobacco companies thought they had put major litigation woes behind them, they now face the threat of a potentially far more devastating legal action than the state-initiated lawsuits that they settled last year. President Clinton announced during his State of the Union address that the Justice Department is preparing “a litigation plan to take the tobacco companies to court” to recover money the federal government has spent to treat tobacco-related illnesses.

PITTSBURGH-To accommodate the growth of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute’s (UPCI’s) treatment and research activities, the UPMC Health System will build a 295,000 square-foot integrated facility on the UPMC Shadyside campus. This $104 million building will serve as the hub for UPCI’s clinical programs and scientific investigations.

BETHESDA, Md-The National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) will jointly fund a 5-year, $72 million project to create a series of Transdisciplinary Tobacco Research Centers to study tobacco use initiation, addiction, and cessation, and tobacco-related cancers. The NCI, in a separate initiative, will spend $72 million over 4 years for research to improve state and community tobacco-control efforts.