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The mortality for patients who had colorectal surgery performed by board-certified colon and rectal surgeons over an 8-year period (1986-1994) was 1.4%, as compared with 7.3% for a similar group of patients operated on by other surgeons,

BUFFALO, NY--When young cancer patients have a question about their illness, they need an educator who has time and patience, and can talk to them in language they can understand.

Although laparoscopic surgery is a less invasive technique for abdominal surgery, a drawback is the fact that it visualizes only the surface of the abdominal cavity and may miss abnormalities within solid abdominal organs, such as the liver. The use of

dvances in cell biology and basic science are made in step-by-step increments of understanding, achieved over years of painstaking research. While not usually typical headline-grabbing material, such research has led to some of the most important

Damage occurs to our genes every day, some of it due to chemical or physical agents that have the potential to cause mutations leading to cancer. Luckily, cell proteins detect such damage and repair it before the cell reproduces, preventing a

VANCOUVER, BC--The new understanding of the importance of viral dynamics in the progression of HIV infection (see "New Thinking on HIV Progression Leads to New Strategies") has led to new guidelines for deploying drugs now available to treat HIV (a list of available agents is on page 13). Experts now recommend reducing viral load to below detectable limits, as an indication that viral replication has been curtailed as much as possible.

By analyzing DNA from a strange mass of tissue found in a man's abdomen, researchers have discovered a previously unknown parasite that can infect and kill humans. The researchers have yet to name the parasite or determine what it looks

DALLAS--Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) breast biopsies in women with mammographically apparent, nonpal-pable breast lesions were deemed impractical due to the high rate of insufficient samples in a Radiologic Diagnostic Oncology Group (RDOG) study, and were stopped 19 months into the trial, Etta D. Pisano, MD, said at the American College of Radiology (ACR) National Conference on Breast Cancer.

VANCOUVER, BC--The new more aggressive approach to HIV infection, using antiviral drugs early and in combination, reflects not only the availability of new drugs but also the application of new thinking about HIV infection (see reports "Early Combination Treatment May Provide HIV Control" and "Researchers Propose New Treatment Guidlines for HIV"). Initial (primary) HIV infection causes an acute flu-like syndrome that is followed by years of relatively asymptomatic disease. This period of "clinical latency" had been thought to reflect viral latency, but work by David D. Ho, MD, and his colleagues at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, New York, has shown otherwise.

SAN DIEGO--There are many sound reasons why a medical center may want to capitate its oncology services and just as many wrong reasons, said Paul M. Kennelly, who recently assumed the position of president and CEO of the management services organization at the City of Hope Oncology Network in Southern California.

WASHINGTON--Although the chemical MTBE, added to gasoline in the winter to reduce the emission of carbon monoxide, does not pose a substantial human health risk, more study needs to be undertaken to assess both short- and long-term health effects, a National Research Council (NRC) committee said in its review of a draft of a federal report.

WASHINGTON--President Clin-ton has reappointed Barbara K. Rimer, DrPH, to a second 2-year term as chair of the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB) and appointed Richard J. Boxer, MD, professor of family and community medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, to a full 6-year term. Dr. Boxer had served on the board for a year to complete the term of Paul Calabresi, MD, who resigned to join the President's Cancer Panel.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that more than 8 million Americans alive today have a history of cancer, of whom 5 million were diagnosed 5 or more years ago. Most of these 5 million can be considered cured, while others still have evidence of cancer. In 1995, about 1,252,000 new cancer cases were diagnosed. This estimate does not include basal and squamous cell skin cancers and in situ carcinomas except bladder. The annual incidence of these skin cancers is estimated to be more than 800,000 cases. There has been a steady rise in cancer mortality in the United States in the last half-century. In 1995, about 547,000 people died of cancer--more than 1,500 people a day. One out of every five deaths in the United States is from cancer.

SAN DIEGO--Today when almost all payment and delivery models co-exist in every market, marketing approaches to cancer care services must respond to all payer models, including managed care and fee-for-service, said Karen M. Gilden, a senior consulting associate with Oncol-ogy Associates, Inc., Warrenton, Va, and the editor of Cancer Management.

BETHESDA, Md--Many people believe that the law under which the FDA regulates foods, drugs, devices, and cosmetics contains an exception for tobacco, but FDA Commissioner David A. Kessler, MD, told a symposium on tobacco addiction that this is not so, and that his agency plans to forge ahead with its proposed regulations.

ORLANDO--Impotence and incontinence, the radical prostatectomy complications that patients fear most, can be reduced through simple modifications in surgical technique without compromising cancer control, according to two reports presented at the American Urological Association's 91st annual meeting.

VANCOUVER, BC--Treatment for AIDS is beginning to resemble cancer therapy: Some studies suggest that best results occur when disease burden is reduced early by aggressive use of combination therapy. Previous thinking has been to hold effective antiviral agents in reserve until disease progression.Presentations at the 11th International Conference on AIDS showed that combination treatment, especially with regimens that include one of the new protease inhibitor drugs, can reduce the virus to undetectable levels in the blood. Reduced viral load decreases the risk of disease progression and is often followed by clinical and immunological improvement.Speaking at the meeting, Scott Hammer, MD, of New England Deaconess Hospital, Boston, pointed out that the ability of combination therapy to reduce viral load to undetectable levels means that "eradication of virus has become an acceptable hypothesis to be tested."Researchers at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center are testing that hypothesis using aggressive combination treatment during primary infection.

Most antibodies do their work in the bloodstream. But others may be powerless to knock out their disease-causing foes unless the confrontation takes place inside an intestinal cell, researchers have found.

CHICAGO--Methylnaltrexone, an agent that blocks the side effects of morphine without interfering with pain relief, has been granted orphan drug status for use in patients with cancer pain.

SAN DIEGO--With more than 200 known hereditary cancers syndromes, there is a clear opportunity for medical centers in this field, said LeeAnne Vandegriff, RN, cancer risk assessment coordinator at Harris Methodist Hospital, Fort Worth.

BETHESDA, Md--The number of Americans infected with HIV is holding steady at about 650,000 to 900,000, according to CDC data. This may be because the number of new HIV infections each year is roughly equal to the annual number of AIDS-related deaths, the report said.

WILMINGTON, Del--Zeneca Inc. has received FDA clearance to market Kadian (morphine sulfate sustained release) capsules, a new single daily dose sustained-release (SR) morphine formulation, for the management of moderate to severe chronic pain when treatment with an opioid analgesic is indicated for more than a few days.

REDMOND, Wash--NeoPath Inc has signed an agreement with Kaiser Permanente to install AutoPap 300 QC Systems at its Northern California facility. Following a successful evaluation, Kaiser Permanente anticipates making the technology available to its nearly 2.5 million Northern California members.

In February 21, I presented testimony on behalf of the Society before the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee during a hearing on Food and Drug

BETHESDA, Md--NCI research from the 1980s, in which scientists used crystallography to study the structure of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), paved the way for development of the current crop of HIV-specific protease inhibitors (see " Early Combination Treatment May Provide HIV Control" for a report on clinical trials of protease inhibitors).

LOS ANGELES, Calif--The Lym-phoma Research Foundation of America is now accepting requests for applications for medical grants for the fiscal year, July 1, 1997 to June 30, 1998.

DALLAS--A new study suggests that RODEO breast MRI can accurately determine the extent of DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) and identify characteristic patterns that can differentiate DCIS from more malignant breast cancers.

The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has published a study reporting on patterns of cancer in a variety of racial and ethnic groups in the United States.

PISCATAWAY, NJ--Enzon, Inc. has begun a multidose, multicen-ter clinical trial of its hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier, PEG-hemoglobin, in cancer patients receiving radiation therapy. The agent was developed as a radiosensitizer to increase oxygenation of hypoxic tumors cells that may be resistant to irradiation. Patients will receive once-a-week infusions of PEG-hemoglobin followed by 5 days of radiation therapy, repeated weekly for 3 weeks.

SAN DIEGO--Hospitals are facing tremendous pressures from the insurance industry to standardize treatments by adopting clinical practice guidelines, panel members said at a conference sponsored by the Society for Ambulatory Care Professionals and Health Technology Assessment of the American Hospital Association.