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HOUSTON-Thrombopoietin-like drugs may be a better bet for moderating the effects of chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression than either granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) or granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Ongoing clinical trials with a recombinant human thrombopoietin (rhTPO) were described by Saroj Vadhan-Raj, MD, of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, at a clinical investigators’ workshop. That workshop was sponsored by M.D. Anderson and Pharmacia Oncology.

ROCKVILLE, Md-Three new research centers will focus on how market forces affect the quality of health care, access to it, and its cost. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) expects to support the centers with grants totaling $12.5 million over the next 5 years. The three centers are located at Harvard Medical School, University of California, San Francisco, and RAND, Santa Monica, California.

CONCORD, Calif-Siemens Oncology Care Systems Group has unveiled the PRIMATOM System, which combines a CT scanner with a linear accelerator for radiation therapy. The machine is currently in use at the Carol G. Simon Cancer Center at Atlantic Health System’s Morristown Memorial Hospital, New Jersey.

WASHINGTON-Tobacco companies, which were banned from touting their products on billboards last year, have increased their advertising at point-of-sale locations, such as convenience stores, according to a new study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

NEW ORLEANS-The addition of rituximab (Rituxan)-a monoclonal antibody directed against the CD20 antigen-to a fludarabine/cyclophosphamide (FC) regimen for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) led to a surprisingly improved complete remission rate with no increase in toxic effects, Michael J. Keating, MD, said at a poster session at the 36th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Surviving cancer is a joyous thing in itself. A new awards program will spotlight that joy and share the stories of 12 survivors who are “everyday heroes,” in an effort to help others who are struggling with the disease.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia-Administering camptothe-cins, such as irinotecan (Camptosar), or giving 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) at the right time of day might reduce toxicity and permit use of significantly higher doses. Tyvin A. Rich, MD, Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, discussed this chronotolerance data during a workshop sponsored by the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and Pharmacia Oncology.

ARLINGTON, Va-In addition to his regular family practice, Mark Renneker, MD, plies a second career, helping other physicians’ patients to understand their illnesses and seek out the best possible therapies. He provides intensive, personalized medical research to clients across the country and assistance in making decisions based on that information.

NEW ORLEANS-A modified form of erythropoietin (epoetin alfa, EPO) may allow for less frequent dosing in anemic cancer patients than currently available forms of the drug.

ARLINGTON, Va-Cancer patients often distinguish between curing a disease and healing the illness, between alleviating pain and alleviating suffering, Michael Lerner, PhD, said at the Comprehensive Cancer Care 2000 conference. He defined healing as the inner human potential to become whole.

NEW ORLEANS-Alteplase (Activase), a tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) produced by recombinant DNA, appears to be a safe, feasible, and economically attractive alternative to urokinase (Abbokinase) for clearing occluded central venous access devices (CVADs), a study among cancer patients shows.

WASHINGTON-Fully implementing proven antismoking programs and approaches could slash the smoking rate of teenagers and adults by half in the United States within the decade, according to “Reducing Tobacco Use,” a new report from the US Surgeon General.

HOUSTON-"Cisplatin (Platinol) has served us well, but we need to move on and study combinations with less toxic carboplatin (Paraplatin) or oxalipla-tin in gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancers," Jaffer Ajani, MD, told the clinical investigators’ workshop. Dr. Ajani is Professor of Medicine, Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and also served as program chairman for the workshop. The workshop was sponsored by the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, and supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Pharmacia Oncology.

NASHVILLE-A variety of novel therapeutic mechanisms that utilize our knowledge of cancer biology holds great promise for the future treatment of advanced colorectal cancer (CRCA), Jordan D. Berlin, MD, told a clinical investigators’ workshop. Predicting that these new advances will end the reign of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) as the only colorectal cancer treatment option, Dr. Berlin declared, ‘‘The era of 5-FU vs 5-FU regimens is over.”

SAN ANTONIO-“Ninety-nine percent of the people you treat are not going to sue you,” Marilyn Frank-Stromborg, EdD, JD, said at the Oncology Nursing Society’s 25th Annual Congress. But for that small percentage of cases where there are going to be problems, you must know how to protect yourself and your institution, she said, and that begins with the practice of “defensive documentation.”

ROCKVILLE, Md-The Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) has opened a new “Oncology Tools” website. It provides specialized information for health professionals, and allows patients and other consumers to access such information as cancer drug labels, approval summations, and Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) meeting transcripts. The website may be found at http://www.fda.gov/cder/cancer.

PHILADELPHIA-Encapsulating paclitaxel (Taxol) in liposomes almost eliminates nonhematologic toxicities such as neuropathy and greatly prolongs the drug’s half-life, Joseph Treat, MD, reported at the clinical investigators’ workshop. Dr. Treat is Vice Chairman of the Department of Medical Oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center and Medical Director of the Temple University Cancer Center in Philadelphia. The workshop was sponsored by the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and by Pharmacia Oncology.

HOUSTON-Hereditary cancer syndromes sometimes provide researchers with an accelerated look at cancer pathogenesis and can suggest novel approaches to cancer prevention, Patrick M. Lynch, JD, MD, told an investigators’ workshop sponsored by the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and Pharmacia Oncology. As an example, Dr. Lynch cited the use of celecoxib (Celebrex), recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as adjunctive therapy to reduce the number of polyps developed by patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP).

HOUSTON-Remember the enthusiastic reports in the popular press that antiangiogenic therapy would provide a quick cancer cure by starving tumors of their blood supply? Lee Ellis, MD, quoted H. L. Mencken in describing the aftermath of those reports: “All complex problems have simple answers that are invariably wrong.”

ARLINGTON, Virginia-Research in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is possible and feasible, said Andrew Vickers, DPhil, but the key issues are practical and not conceptual. Those who work in CAM rarely have the research skills, the technicians, or the access to suitable patients that mainstream institutions or researchers have, he pointed out.

WASHINGTON-President Clinton included two cancer specialists on the newly created, 11-member White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine: George M. Bernier, Jr., MD, hematologist/oncologist, University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, and William R. Fair, MD, of Long Boat Key, Fla, former chief of the urology service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and emeritus professor of urology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

BETHESDA, Md-The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has formed four public-private partnerships aimed at accelerating the development of promising HIV/AIDS vaccines.

WASHINGTON-The US Public Health Service (PHS) has released “Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: A Clinical Practice Guideline,” which offers trial-based data on first- and second-line therapies to help smokers quit.

WASHINGTON-Pain in cancer patients is woefully undermanaged because of multiple barriers from patients, physicians, and the nation’s health care system, several speakers said at a congressional briefing.

ARLINGTON, Va-Nurses often take an active role in integrating complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) with conventional care in the hospital setting, said a panel of nurses at a session of the Comprehensive Cancer Care 2000 conference.

ATLANTA-The first patients have completed treatment using the MammoSite Radiation Therapy System (RTS) in a multisite, investigational clinical trial currently underway.

OAKLAND, California-The National Brain Tumor Foundation (NBTF) has announced its new cancer online resource and toll-free telephone number. Patients and family members who have detailed medical questions regarding brain tumors can contact a neuroscience nurse for a free consultation.

SILVER SPRINGS, Md-Recognizing that caregivers are the backbone of our health care system, developers of the Cancer Survival Toolbox advocacy program have added a new audiotape, “Caring for the Caregiver.” The tape provides cancer caregivers with self-advocacy tools to help them better cope with the disease and their own needs.

NEW ORLEANS-A meta-analysis of two independent phase III randomized multicenter studies “further strengthens the conclusion that the combination of irinotecan (CPT-11, Camptosar)/fluorouracil (5-FU)/leucovorin represents a new reference standard in the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer,” said Leonard Saltz, MD, associate attending physician, Division of Solid Tumor Oncology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

NEW ORLEANS-Antiangiogenesis drugs under development may find their greatest utility in early-stage cancer and in combination with other agents, Michael S. Gordon, MD, said at a symposium sponsored by Agouron Pharmaceuticals (La Jolla, Calif). The symposium, “Novel Mechanisms in the Future of Cancer Treatment,” was held in conjunction with the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s 36th Annual Meeting.