All News

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.

Varian has created a new patient education Internet web site containing information on cancer radiotherapy treatments.

Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have received funding to investigate the long-term effects of chemotherapy on men surviving testicular cancer.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) tests that can be taken at home are good options for individuals who want to know whether they have been infected with the acquired immune deficiency (AIDS) virus but shy away from clinics and doctors’

SAN DIEGO-Hospitals must adopt environmental policies to help prevent the spread of invasive aspergillosis in high-risk patients, including immunosuppressed cancer patients, Elias Anaissie, MD, of the University of Arkansas, said at a seminar at the 38th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC).

NEW YORK-Cancer patients have more treatment options then ever before. But in order to make informed choices, they must have complete information. Patients who are assertive and know their rights are more likely to get that information, said Carol A. Sheridan, RN, MSN, AOCN, a clinical support specialist for Amgen.

The FDA uses a complex series of procedures to get needed drugs to patients as quickly as possible while ensuring safety. Patricia Keegan, md, oncology staff director in the FDA’s Clinical Trial Design and Analysis Division, walked the audience

WASHINGTON-President Clinton has named six new members to the National Cancer Advisory Board, which advises the president, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the director of the National Cancer Institute on policies and activities at NCI.

BETHESDA, Md-Studies in end-of-life care must be introduced into the standard medical school curriculum, David E. Weissman, MD, of the Medical College of Wisconsin, said at the First International Conference on Research in Palliative Care, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the US Cancer Pain Relief Committee. “They don’t know what they don’t know,” Dr. Weissman said in his presentation on the need to change palliative care practice in academic medical centers.

WASHINGTON-The relation between tumor cell proliferation and angiogenesis is well known: Tumors need a supply of blood in order to grow beyond a depth of 1 mm. Discovering how angiogenesis works has been the focus of research by Harold Dvorak, MD, Mallinckrodt Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School.

SAN DIEGO-“When do you start HIV therapy and what do you start with?” Michael S. Saag, MD, asked to open a seminar on retroviral therapy at the 38th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC). As simplistic as it sounds, he said, it is a question that initiates the process of strategic thinking on the use of antiretroviral therapy.

HOUSTON-The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center has unveiled its new 13-story Albert B. and Margaret M. Alkek Hospital (Figure 1). At the dedication ceremony, the Center’s president John Mendelsohn, MD, called Alkek “an incredible modern facility.” It is, he said, a hospital for the future, one that can help bring into reality Dr. Mendelsohn’s vision of cancer care in the 21st century. “We’re optimistic that we will be able to turn cancer into a chronic disease that we can control,” he said.