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DENTON, Tex-Music has long been used, albeit unscientifically, to relax patients in an effort to relieve pain. Now, a researcher from the University of North Texas College of Music is attempting an approach to music therapy that involves vibration and appears to have a neurophysiologic mechanism of action.

SAN ANTONIO -Pretreatment with amifostine (Ethyol) reduced the incidence of both acute and chronic xero-stomia in patients undergoing head and neck radiotherapy, David M. Brizel, MD, reported at the 41st Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO).

BUFFALO, NY-Just by looking at the words cancer pain patients used to describe their pain, researchers were able to correctly predict in 66% of cases which patients had neuropathic pain, Dr. Thomas Sist, of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, said in his poster presentation at the 8th World Congress on Pain.

EDMONTON, Alberta-Vigorous worldwide pain education efforts emphasizing undertreatment have resulted in a "very healthy increase" in the use of opioids around the world, including increases in dose and length of exposure, Eduardo Bruera, MD, of the University of Alberta and Edmonton General Hospital, said at a plenary session of the 8th World Congress on Pain.

PHOENIX, Arizona-Drugs that inhibit cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) are the hottest thing in arthritis care this year and may have a role to play in combating colorectal cancer, according to a study presented at the American College of Gastroenterology 64th Annual Scientific Meeting.

VANCOUVER, BC-The US Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) cancer pain practice guidelines, like the World Health Organization (WHO) 3-step ladder, emphasize a hierarchical pain management strategy, Richard Payne, MD, said at a symposium held in conjunction with the 8th World Congress on Pain of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP).

DULUTH, Minn-Effective strategies to improve cancer pain management in the community may be elusive, but researchers from the Minnesota Cancer Pain Project, led by Thomas E. Elliott, MD, believe they are on the right track with an intervention program that combines education of community opinion leaders with community outreach programs.

ST. LOUIS--When tramadol (Ultram) received FDA approval last year for use in moderate to moderately severe pain, its abuse potential was felt to be low (1.5 cases of abuse per 100,000 patients in the European experience).

BETHESDA, Md-Researchers at five institutions have received the first contracts awarded by a new National Cancer Institute program intended to develop novel “one-stop” technologies capable of both detecting and destroying tumor cells. The five contracts, each of which is for 3 years, totaled nearly $11.3 million.

VIENNA, Austria-Cancer pain patients with chronic renal failure are more likely than others to need changes in their morphine regimen, reported M. Escher, MD, of the Multidisciplinary Pain Center, University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland. This retrospective study, reported at the 9th World Congress on Pain, reviewed medical records of 110 cancer patients who had been referred for a pain consultation and had been prescribed morphine.

Results of a study conducted by the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (ASPRS) showed that 84% of women who have had their breast implants removed have replaced them with new implants. In 1998, 32,262 women with breast augmentation had their breast implants removed, and 27,320 of them opted for new implants.

SHEFFIELD, UK-What should the research question be when investigating a new approach to cancer pain? The most obvious answer is, Does it relieve pain? But David Brooks, MB, of the University of Sheffield, argues that this is not enough. Researchers must also ask about side effects, quality of life, and patient preference.

Although patients with cancer pain reported lower levels of current pain than did patients with benign or treatmentrelated pain, their pain anxiety levels were higher, Mikki Miner, RN, MS, said in a poster presentation at the 8th World Congress on Pain.

VANCOUVER, BC-More than 4,000 pain experts from all over the world attended the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) 8th World Congress on Pain, at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre.

VIENNA, Austria-Daily doses of controlled-release oral oxycodone (OxyContin, Oxygesic) exceeding 80 mg are as safe as lower doses when therapy is individualized, researchers from Purdue Pharma L.P. reported at the 9th World Congress on Pain.

VANCOUVER, BC-The use of pharmacoeconomics in cancer pain management is not about "decreasing the drug budget," but rather about evaluating the cost and outcomes of drug therapy, Stephen L. Huber, MS, RPh, said at a symposium held in conjunction with the 8th World Congress on Pain.

HOUSTON-Unscheduled hospital admissions for treatment of pain represent a significant cost-$4.7 million annually in a study from The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

GLASGOW-Pain specialists continually stress the message that clinicians should not fear prescribing adequate doses of opioids for pain patients, since such patients are not at risk of becoming "addicted."

The Federal Trade Commission(FTC) released a consumer alert regarding home-use test kits for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). According to the FTC, some of the kits being marketed and sold on the Internet are giving users false information about their HIV status.

BETHESDA, Md-Nearly $8 million in grants will help 17 organizations establish 18 Biomarkers Developmental Laboratories, part of the National Cancer Institute’s new Early Detection Research Network. The laboratories are charged with identifying, characterizing, and refining techniques for finding molecular, genetic, and biologic biomarkers.

The 10th edition of Wintrobe’s Clinical Hematology is a two volume, multiauthored work that spans the ever-expanding discipline of hematology in over 2,600 pages. The book is appropriately introduced by an excellent short chapter written previously by Dr. Wintrobe on “The Diagnostic and Therapeutic Approach to Hematologic Problems.” There follows a valuable series of six chapters totaling 133 pages devoted to laboratory hematology, including blood and bone marrow examination, immunodiagnosis, clinical flow cytometry, cytogenetics, clusters of differentiation, and molecular genetics. These chapters contain ample illustrations, diagrams, tables, and references.

LONDON, Ontario-For a child with cancer, the pain related to the disease, its therapy, and required procedures is quite often the worst pain that the child has ever encountered, said Patricia A. McGrath, PhD, in her presentation at the World Health Organization workshop session on cancer pain.

NEW YORK-Rituximab (Rituxan) used in combination with standard chemotherapy may prolong the duration of response for patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), Myron S. Czuczman, MD, said at the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium VII.

NEW YORK-Patients may talk about many treatment issues with their doctors but keep mum about treatment-related nausea. “When they go to their chemotherapy nurse, that’s when they say, ‘It was awful. I was sick for 3 days after chemotherapy,’” Terri Maxwell, RN, MSN, said at a teleconference sponsored by Cancer Care Inc.

HOUSTON-A male cancer patient receiving opioids for pain is reluctant to tell the female pain specialist at the clinic about his constipation until she hands him a small computer and shows him how to use a pen device to indicate his side effects from a list on the screen

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, (UCSD) Cancer Center report success inusing a new technology to develop a sustained-release formulation of cytarabine (ara-C). The new formulation, called DepoCyt, produced a significantly better response rate than the standard ara-C formulation in patients with lymphomatous meningitis. Results of the open, multicenter, controlled study were reported at the 35th meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

NEW YORK-An implanted epidural catheter can be a safe and effective means of providing analgesia in the home setting for patients with advanced cancer, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center researchers found in a retrospective review.

MADISON, Wis--The World Health Organization (WHO), which first published its analgesic ladder in the original 1986 version of Cancer Pain Relief, has now issued an updated 2nd edition of the book that includes additional alternative opioids such as hydromorphone, oxycodone, and transdermal fentanyl, David E. Joranson, MSSW, said at the WHO workshop on cancer pain at the 8th World Congress on Pain.

NEW YORK-“There are no minimum standards for the quality of the psychosocial care given at institutions,” said Jimmie C. Holland, MD, leadoff speaker at the Pan-American Congress of Psychosocial and Behavioral Oncology. “We would never let that happen with infectious disease,” said Dr. Holland, Wayne Chapman Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

WASHINGTON-The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has issued a final rule that defines what research data the public can demand to see under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). To the relief of many in the biomedical sciences, the White House agency did not include data from research in progress or any information that could be used to identify particular persons in a research study.