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Cancer Care, Inc., a voluntary cancer agency dedicated to providing supportive services for people with cancer and their families, is providing copies of Cancer Care Briefs-single-page information sheets that help cancer patients cope with their

NEW YORK-In a presentation sponsored by the American Cancer Foundation, Ernst Wynder, MD, boiled down what he has learned from five decades of cancer research into three basic principles: Cancer is not an inevitable consequence of aging; cancer is usually due to metabolic overload; and cancer can be prevented by “listening to nature” without a thorough understanding of its molecular biology.

The map shown in Figure 1 provides the annual rates of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) per 100,000 population, by state of residence from January through December 1996. Table 1 lists the metropolitan areas with the 50

CHAPEL HILL, NC-Men infected with HIV who also have another sexually transmitted disease (STD) have approximately an eightfold increase in the amount of HIV in their semen, compared with men who do not have a second sexually transmitted disease, a study conducted in Africa has shown.

WASHINGTON-Children living in the western United States in the 1950s learned to “duck and cover” at school in case of a nuclear attack, unaware that a more tangible nuclear danger lay in their lunchtime milk cartons.

Combined-modality therapy integrating chemotherapy with radiotherapy and/or surgery is playing an increasing role in the day-to-day management of a wide variety of solid tumors. No longer is this approach solely a clinical research tool. In fact, in

MENLO PARK, Calif-Neurex Corporation has announced a pause in enrollment of a trial of intravenous SNX-111 for patients with severe head trauma, to review data from earlier studies for overall risk/benefit. The agent is an N-type neuron-specific calcium blocker derived from the venom of the cone snail.

WASHINGTON-In its review of the proposed tobacco settlement, the American Cancer Society (ACS) recommended a number of changes it considers essential.

NEW YORK-Today’s treatments for lung cancer are much better tolerated than treatments used 20 years ago, Robert Ginsberg, MD, chief of the Thoracic Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, said at an NIH video satellite symposium beamed to 20 selected centers nationwide.

MONTREAL-A group of Canadian physicians hope to spark renewed interest in the use of infrared breast imaging as a complement to mammography.

SAN FRANCISCO-The search for less invasive and less toxic methods to deliver interleukin-2 (IL-2) has moved beyond injection. Edith Huland, MD, PhD, of the University Clinic Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany, has been using a nebulizer to deliver IL-2 for six years.

The Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) has developed a position paper that addresses quality cancer care. The position

SAN FRANCISCO-An outpatient combination of low-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2, Proleukin), interferon alfa-2b (Intron A), and fluorouracil appears to offer response and survival rates similar to high-dose IL-2 with minimal side effects, according to studies conducted by Jens Atzpodien, MD, associate professor of medicine, Medizinische Hochschule, Hannover, Germany.

LOS ANGELES-The Group Room, syndicated radio’s first call-in cancer support program, has added two new stations: San Diego’s KSDO AM 1130 and Dallas/Ft. Worth’s Talk 1190 AM (KOOO), Premiere Radio Networks, Inc. has announced.

NEW YORK-The majority of people in the United States die without discussing or documenting their wishes regarding end-of-life care. Estimates of the number of people who have actually prepared advance directives range from 5% to 25%, said Sylvia Pearl, LCSW, during a national teleconference sponsored by Cancer Care, Inc.

HOUSTON-Approximately 50% to 80% of patients with central nervous system tumors experience emotional and behavioral changes that significantly alter their capacity to function independently and interact in a healthy manner, Alan D. Valentine, MD, said at a symposium on cancer and the central nervous system. In fact, he added, behavioral changes may be one of the first signs that a patient is seriously ill.

ADELAIDE, Australia-A sustained-release morphine formulation that can be administered once or twice a day (Kadian) showed similar efficacy and safety to a standard twice-daily morphine formulation (MS Contin) in a multicen-ter, placebo-controlled US study of cancer pain patients, sponsored by the Australian manufacturers of Kadian.

COLUMBUS, Ohio-A new multi-center study supports the long-term use of dronabinol (Marinol) for anorexia associated with weight loss in patients with AIDS. Dronabinol is a synthetically produced delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the active constituent of marijuana.

The lives of rats with an incurable, rapidly progressing form of brain tumor, similar to glioblastoma in humans, is greatly

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) has announced the formation of a collaborative of health care organizations

NEW ORLEANS-Surgical oncol-ogy patients appear to be overwhelmingly in favor of listening to music before and after their surgery. Besides its soothing powers, music may help in pain control, offering a cost-effective intervention, investigators reported at the Oncology Nursing Society.

SEATTLE-Targeted Genetics Corporation’s tumor suppressor gene product, tgDCC-E1A, is currently being tested in two phase I trials.

Researchers have identified certain T cells that suppress the reproduction of HIV carried within them. These cells, called

The magnitude of the cancer problem directly caused by tobacco use underscoresthe urgent need for accelerating our knowledge and understanding of lung

ROCKVILLE, Md-The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Taxol (paclitaxel) Injection for use in the second-line treatment of AIDS-related Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS). Taxol is also approved for second-line use in metastatic breast and ovarian cancer.

PHILADELPHIA-The proposed tobacco settlement should include support for federally funded cancer research “in proportion to the devastation caused by tobacco-induced cancers on our public health,” the American Association for Cancer Research said in a position statement.

NEW YORK-Along the long road that starts with a cancer diagnosis, good communication will ease the way for patients, families, and physicians alike.

ATLANTA, Ga-The American Cancer Society is inviting proposals from candidates for the newly established Harry and Elsa Jiler American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professorship.

MADISON, NJ-The Biological Response Modifiers Advisory Committee unanimously recommended that the Food and Drug Administration approve Neumega (recombinant human inter-leukin-11 or rhIL-11), Genetics Institute’s platelet growth factor. Genetics Institute is a subsidiary of American Home Products Corporation.

BETHESDA, Md-The Biological Response Modifiers Advisory Committee has recommended that the FDA usher cancer therapy into a new era by approving IDEC Pharamceutical’s Rituxan (rituximab) for patients with relapsed or refractory low-grade or follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.