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SAN DIEGO-A continuum of inpatient-outpatient care (IPOP) for adult patients with hematologic malignancies undergoing bone marrow transplant (BMT) lowered costs to insurers by 7.1% without significantly shifting costs to patients in a study from Johns Hopkins.

Smoking kills more than 430,000 people each year in the United States and is currently estimated to be responsible for 30.5% of all cancer-related deaths in our society. The majority of these deaths could be prevented,

Dr. Connors has written an excellent review of the management of five unusual sites of lymphomatous involvement. Several basic principles are illustrated in his discussion of rare entities:

Smoking kills more than 430,000 people each year in the United States and is currently estimated to be responsible for 30.5% of all cancer-related deaths in our society. The majority of these deaths could be prevented,

Malignant diseases of the vulva account for an estimated 3% to 5% of gynecologic neoplasia. The pathologic variants are many (Table 1). Squamous cell cancers account for 85% to 90% of these neoplasms. Melanoma, Bartholin gland cancer, Paget’s disease, and the various sarcomas are the other principal neoplasms. The preinvasive forms of the squamous cancer tend to occur in younger women and may be associated with in situ lesions of the cervix, vagina, perineum, and anus.

Since the first cases of AIDS-associated Kaposi’s sarcoma (AIDS/KS) were described in the medical literature in 1981,[1] various local and systemic therapies have been used in efforts to control this most common HIV-associated neoplasm. Many reviews have been published about the treatment of AIDS/KS, but almost all of them have been written by authors representing a single medical specialty, whether it be medical oncology, dermatology, or radiation oncology.

Dr. Connors provides an excellent overview of several sites of extranodal lymphoma, which represent an unusual presentation of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He outlines an organized, phased approach to diagnosis, staging, and treatment, emphasizing interdisciplinary management. In this review, we will add some perspectives from the Stanford experience.

The article by Dr. Connors is an excellent overview of lymphomas involving five sites: the eye, central nervous system (CNS), sinuses, testes, and stomach. The author emphasizes that these lymphomas present unique management challenges even to the experienced oncologist. The tumors are difficult to diagnose, resistant to treatment, or, in the case of gastric lymphoma, occasionally associated with a causative organism that warrants antibiotic treatment.

Smoking kills more than 430,000 people each year in the United States and is currently estimated to be responsible for 30.5% of all cancer-related deaths in our society. The majority of these deaths could be prevented,

The staging and treatment of the common presentations of malignant lymphoma are readily familiar to experienced medical oncologists and hematologists. However, because of their rarity and variable and unusual

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC-Toxicology has come to the Web in the form of a new service from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The Environmental Health Information Service, available through libraries and by subscription, includes the NIEHS journal Environmental Health Perspectives and specialized supplements. Subscription rates are available at ehis@niehs.nih.gov.

Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) is an AIDS-defining neoplasm characterized by the development of lesions that histologically consist of proliferating spindle cells, vascular channels, and inflammatory cells.[1] The typical early presentation consists of painless pink, red, or purple macules or nodules on the skin surface or in the oral cavity. Although the presence of a few skin lesions is not life-threatening, even limited cutaneous KS can have an enormous psychosocial impact, particularly when the lesions occur on exposed areas.

For more than 25 years, chemotherapy has been the cornerstone of treatment for small-cell lung cancer. Many studies have tested a wide variety of drugs in different combinations, resulting in a number of standard

Lung cancer is the leading cause of death due to cancer in the United States, and approximately 178,100 new cases were estimated to occur last year. Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for approximately 17% to 25% of all lung cancers. Due to its aggressive nature and rapid proliferation rate, small-cell lung cancer is usually widespread at diagnosis. Therefore, chemotherapy is the cornerstone of therapy for this disease. Cisplatin (Platinol) is an active chemotherapeutic agent used to treat small-cell lung cancer, but its toxicity, including nausea and vomiting, nephrotoxicity, neurotoxicity, and ototoxicity, has led to the investigation of combination regimens with different toxicity profiles. Carboplatin (Paraplatin), a derivative of cisplatin, has far less nonhematologic toxicity, although myelosuppression may be slightly greater than that observed with cisplatin. The reduced toxicity and equivalent efficacy of carboplatin have resulted in the increased use of carboplatin-based regimens to treat small-cell lung cancer. Phase I and II trials of carboplatin as single-agent treatment for small-cell lung cancer resulted in overall response rates of approximately 60% for previously untreated patients and 17% for those who had received prior therapy. New combination chemotherapy regimens that include carboplatin may improve survival in patients with small-cell lung cancer and potentially cure those patients with limited disease. Further investigation of carboplatin and other new agents is warranted.[ONCOLOGY 12(Suppl 2):36-43, 1998]

A study presented at the 39th Annual American Society of Hematology (ASH) Meeting in San Diego offers the promise of an improved drug treatment, PSC833, for acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Genetics Institute, Inc., a subsidiary of American Home Products Corporation, has received FDA approval to market oprelvekin (recombinant interleukin-11 [Neumega]), a platelet growth factor that stimulates the production of blood platelets

Rituximab (Rituxan) has been cleared for marketing by the FDA. Previously known as the C2B8 antibody, rituximab, is a single-agent monoclonal antibody therapy for relapsed or refractory, low-grade or follicular, CD20-positive, B-cell non-

Cinical practice guidelines for gynecologic oncology were developed under the direction of the Medical Practice and Ethics Committee of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists (SGO) in concert with national trends in medical care in the United

The Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) has begun a public education campaign, entitled “Wake Up to Cancer Fatigue,” which will feature the first Cancer Fatigue Awareness Day on April 2, 1998. The purpose of the campaign is to educate

ORLANDO-Why is there such a wide variation in the way radiologists practice across the United States? “It’s a puzzle to me, why similar patients in different locations receive different treatments,” Philip N. Cascade, MD, said as he posed the question at the annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

In 1991, approximately 13.8 million adults in the United States met diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence, or both. In addition, at least 80% of persons in this group were likely to be daily tobacco smokers and,

NEW ORLEANS-Basic science research efforts may be paying off in the understanding of malignant gliomas, potentially leading to treatments for this aggressive, deadly tumor, scientists reported at the Society for Neuroscience meeting.

ASH-Breast cancer transplant patients who received stem cell factor (SCF) combined with G-CSF (Neupogen) for stem cell mobilization produced significantly more stem cells with fewer aphereses than those who received G-CSF alone, Elizabeth Shpall, MD, of the University of Colorado, Denver, said in her presentation at the American Society of Hematology meeting in San Diego.

NEW YORK-The Leukemia Society of America has increased the funding for its 1998 Translational Research Awards. The awards will now be made for an initial 3 years with an annual maximum of $100,000 in direct costs and 8% overhead, with a possible renewal for an additional 2 years for projects leading to clinical trials.

EAST HANOVER, NJ-Novartis Pharmaceuticals has received FDA approval to market Sandostatin LAR Depot (octreotide acetate for injectable suspension) for the treatment of acromegaly and to control the symptoms of metastatic carcinoid tumors and the profuse watery diarrhea associated with vasoactive intestinal peptide secreting tumors (VIPomas).

NEW ORLEANS-A new generation of angiogenesis inhibitors has been shown to shrink large tumors in mice, without toxicity and without the development of drug resistance, Judah P. Folkman, MD, said in the Honor Lecture in Physiology at the American College of Chest Physicians annual meeting.

ASH-A single dose of a radiolabeled murine anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (IDEC-Y2B8) has produced responses in more than 80% of patients with relapsed or refractory low-grade or follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), Thomas E. Witzig, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, said in his presentation at the American Society of Hematology meeting in San Diego.

Long-term follow-up data on patients treated with pentostatin (Nipent) were presented at the 39th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Diego, California. Pentostatin is currently indicated in the United States for first-line treatment of hairy cell leukemia.

BETHESDA, Md-The National Cancer Institute has strongly challenged the notion, initiated at an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conference and widely dispersed by a newspaper article, that the United States is in the midst of an epidemic of childhood cancers.

WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration has decided not to extend Medicaid coverage to all low-income people infected with HIV. Currently, HIV-positive patients who have developed AIDS can receive Medicaid benefits even if they are not poor enough to qualify under normal Medicaid guidelines.