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WASHINGTON-Whether you call it the Year 2000 Problem (Y2K) or the Millennium Bug, it could bite the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) quite badly, a congressional report warns. The Y2K problem stems from the fact that most computers still use only two digits to represent the year. Come the year 2000, unless this flaw is corrected, these computers will read 00 as the year 1900, and chaos will occur in their calculations.

SAN DIEGO-With a survival rate of only 5%, invasive aspergillosis remains a devastating problem that is difficult to prevent, tricky to diagnose, and complicated to treat, according to presenters at a symposium aptly named “Uncertainties in Invasive Aspergillosis,” held at the 38th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

BETHESDA, Md-Far-reaching changes in the National Cancer Institute’s 43-year-old Developmental Therapeutics Program (DTP) would “enhance the ability to discover new and useful antitumor drugs during the next decade,” according to the report of an NCI committee, which offered a series of recommendations to ensure its vision.

WASHINGTON-As part of World AIDS Day 1998 (December1), President Clinton announced that the federal government will spend $200 million to fund research aimed at developing an effective HIV vaccine during fiscal year 1999. The money represents a 33% increase in AIDS vaccine funding over fiscal year 1998.

BETHESDA, Md-“I went into community oncology to treat patients,” said Richard Kosierowski, MD, an oncologist in private practice outside Philadelphia, “but I have a responsibility to the community as well.”

PHOENIX-Five-year results of a pilot study at the Ochsner Clinic, New Orleans, suggests that a 4-day course of brachytherapy may be just as effective as a 6-week course of external beam radiation therapy in breast cancer patients who have undergone breast-conserving surgery.

MIAMI BEACH-Long-term follow-up of the pivotal trial of rituximab (Rituxan) in patients with relapsed or refractory low-grade or follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), shows a median duration of response of nearly 1 year (11.6 months), Peter McLaughlin, MD, reported at a poster session of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting.

BETHESDA, Md-The National Cancer Institute plans a major restructuring of its clinical trials program, intended to broaden participation by physicians and patients and shorten the time between the initial idea for a treatment study and its conclusion.

WASHINGTON-The new tobacco settlement has left tobacco-control advocates fearing that the $206 billion dollar agreement may have blunted their efforts to reduce smoking and the death and disability it causes.

An important, though as yet elusive, goal of cancer chemotherapy is the development of agents that are selectively toxic to tumor cells and, thus, permit effective cancer treatment to be administered without severe, often life-threatening toxicity to normal tissues. Until such agents are available, an alternative strategy to improve the therapeutic index of cancer chemotherapy is the administration of cytoprotective agents to selectively protect normal tissues from injury by cytotoxic drugs.

HYATTSVILLE, Md-The number of teenagers who smoke while pregnant is on the rise again. Data from a new National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) study show that smoking among pregnant women between the ages of 15 and 19 increased to 17.2% in 1995 and 1996 after declining for several years. Non-Hispanic whites, at 29%, had the highest rate of smoking among pregnant teenagers. The study found a significant decline overall in smoking by pregnant women, from almost 20% in 1990 to 14% in 1996.

FLORENCE, Italy-Radiotherapy reduces the odds of local recurrence in women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) who have undergone breast-conserving surgery, according to 4-year follow-up evidence from a trial conducted by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC).

Tobacco use, particularly cigarette smoking, remains the leading cause of preventable illness and death in the United States. Studies have shown that increases in the price of cigarettes will decrease the prevalence of smoking and the number of

BUFFALO, NY-Cancer care services vary widely among health care plans in the United States, speakers told the President’s Cancer Panel at a meeting hosted by Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Suggestions for helping standardize care included use of outside accreditation centers and adoption of national practice guidelines, although the methodology to be used to develop such guidelines remains open to debate.

WASHINGTON-Forget those smoke-filled cocktail lounges, tobacco addicts, and head for a local tea room. “Drinking tea after smoking reduces levels of oxidative stress,” reported James E. Klaunig, PhD, professor of pharmacology and toxicology, Indiana University School of Medicine. Oxidative stress has been linked to cancer and other diseases .

PHOENIX-A single dose of a radiolabeled anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (MoAB), given following rituximab (Rituxan) dosing, produced responses in two thirds of patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), Gregory Wiseman, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, said at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) annual meeting.

WASHINGTON-As Oncology News International went to press, the tobacco industry and more than 40 state attorneys general were in final negotiations of a settlement worth approximately $206 over 25 years. The settlement will reimburse the states for Medicare spending on smoking-related illnesses, place some limits on cigarette advertising, and result in a substantial increase in cigarette prices. Look for a full analysis of the settlement in the January issue.

ROCKVILLE, Md-The FDA has granted full approval to Pharmacia & Upjohn’s Camptosar (irinotecan), based on survival data. Camptosar is indicated for use in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer whose disease has recurred or spread after treatment with the current standard chemotherapy. The agent received accelerated FDA approval in June 1996.

SILVER SPRING, Md-Depo-Tech’s DepoCyt (cytarabine liposome injection) has won the backing of the Oncology Drug Advisory Committee (ODAC), which recommended that the FDA grant the drug accelerated approval for the intrathecal treatment of lympho-matous meningitis. The 6-to-1 vote came about 1 year after ODAC declined to recommend the drug for intrathecal treatment of neoplastic meningitis in patients with solid tumors.

GALVESTON, Tex-Last October, radiation oncologists at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston treated their first patient with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). The patient received a computer-planned prostate boost involving seven beam angles and 25 beam segments (see Figure). This complex plan allowed for maximum targeting of the tumor while minimizing radiation to the urethra, rectum, and bladder.

WASHINGTON-Can the humble cup of tea ward off chronic diseases like cancer? Hints of the potential health benefits of tea are intriguing, but the emphasis remains on the “potential,” said Jeffrey B. Blumberg, PhD, chief of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory, Tufts University. He spoke at the Second International Scientific Symposium on Tea and Human Health.

SAN FRANCISCO-In an era of increasing fragmentation and specialization in cancer care, and a trend toward ambulatory care, the family physician’s role as a coordinator of care is more important than ever-for both patients and cancer specialists, David Rosenthal, MD, president of the American Cancer Society (ACS), said at the American Academy of Family Physicians meeting.

BUFFALO, NY-Evidence-based practice guidelines are needed to improve the quality of cancer care, several representatives from the professional cancer societies told the President’s Cancer Panel at a meeting hosted by Roswell Park Cancer Institute . But expert physicians also play a critical role in the creation of practice guidelines, particularly in situations where evidence is lacking or controversial.

A new University of California San Francisco (UCSF) study found that high school baseball players who use spit tobacco are nearly twice as likely to stop using spit tobacco when dentists or dental hygienists, as well as their teammates, actively

The investigational anti-HIV protease inhibitor amprenavir (Agenerase), formerly known as 141W94, is now available to patients who have not responded to current protease inhibitor-containing regimens through a novel early access program.

BALTIMORE-The past as prologue to the future served as an unspoken but elegant theme for the seminar that marked the 25th anniversary of the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center.

WASHINGTON-HIV testing should be made a routine but voluntary part of prenatal care for all women in the United States, an Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee has recommended.

BUFFALO, NY-The third and final meeting of the President’s Cancer Panel this year focused on defining the role of practice guidelines in the quest for quality cancer care.

WASHINGTON-About 3½ years ago, in an effort to come to terms with managed care, Dean H. Gesme, Jr., MD, and his partners in a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, oncology practice named Iowa Cancer Care (ICC), entered into a Management Service Organization (MSO) agreement with Physicians Reliance Network, Inc. (PRN), a Texas company. In making this move, they “gave up some autonomy,” in exchange for freedom from dealing with business matters, Dr. Gesme said at a symposium on negotiating contracts in oncology.

FLORENCE, Italy-Although breast-conserving surgery coupled with radiotherapy has been advocated as the treatment of choice for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) , management remains controversial.