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RARITAN, NJ--Procrit (Epoetin alfa) has received marketing clearance by the FDA for use in reducing the need for allogeneic blood transfusions in anemic patients scheduled to undergo elective noncardiac, nonvascular surgery. Patients should be at high risk for perioperative transfusion with significant, anticipated blood loss. Procrit is not indicated for anemic patients who are willing to donate autologous blood.

Recombinant human interleukin-11 (IL-11 [Neumega]) stimulates platelet production and inhibits inflammation in clinical studies in cancer patients, according to research presented at a symposium held last summer in New York City. The potential

CHICAGO--According to the clinical literature, men with a prostate-specific antigen density (PSAD) level less than 0.15 ng/mL do not need ultrasound-guided biopsy because the PSAD is considered normal or reflects only a benign process.

CHICAGO--Positron emission tomography (PET) has excellent potential as a screening test for spotting axillary lymph node metastases in women with newly diagnosed, early-stage breast cancer, thereby sparing many women from unnecessary lymph node dissection, Lee Adler, MD, of Case Western Reserve University, said at the Radiological Society of North America meeting.

TOLEDO, Ohio-Researchers at the Medical College of Ohio have treated a series of breast-conservation patients with intraoperative electron beam radiation to the tumor bed, in conjunction with a course of 45 to 50 Gy of external beam radiation.

WASHINGTON--State legislators from nine states announced they will introduce the Managed Care Consumer Protection Act when their respective legislatures convene this year. Legislators in others states may also introduce the "model" bill, drafted by a bipartisan group of state legislators. The drafting panel said it sought to avoid piecemeal attempts to resolve conflicts between consumers and managed care plans by drafting a comprehensive, uniform bill.

In November 1992, residents of Massachusetts approved a ballot petition (Question 1) that increased the tax on each pack of cigarettes from 26¢ to 51¢ beginning January 1, 1993, and requested that the legislature spend the proceeds on tobacco

BETHESDA, Md--In a move designed to increase the pool of patients available for clinical trials, the National Cancer Institute has forged an agreement with the Department of Veterans Affairs that will increase the ability of veterans to enroll in phase I, II, and III studies.

DALLAS--Breast implant excision or exchange offers a unique cancer screening opportunity in breasts frequently difficult to check manually or radiologically, William Shaw, MD, said at the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons annual meeting.

The familial aggregation of cancer has piqued the curiosity of physicians for more than two millennia. Most explanations for this aggregation were based upon environmental hypotheses, such as diet, solar radiation, habit patterns, and cultural practices, as well as occupational exposures. On rare occasions, ancients and now, more frequently, contemporaries have suggested that genetics might provide an important causal explanation for familial cancer.

Physicians can expect to see more requests for medical records by companies offering viatical settlements to terminally ill or chronically ill patients who meet certain criteria as certified by their physicians. The viatical industry, which has been marketing its services primarily to AIDS patients through gay publications and networks, is maturing as a result of new federal legislation granting tax-free status to the proceeds and as viatical companies expand their marketing efforts to the population at large.

SAN ANTONIO--Bisphosphon-ates are indicated in patients with established bone metastases from breast cancer or myeloma, to reduce skeletal complications, Alexander H.G. Paterson, MD, said at a minisymposium held in conjunction with the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

ROCKVILLE, Md--The FDA has proposed a formal process for selecting patient representatives to serve on its cancer-related advisory boards--the Onco-logic Drugs Advisory Committee, the Biological Response Modifiers Advisory Committee, and the Medical Imaging Drugs Advisory Committee.

NEW YORK--Comparative geno-mic hybridization (CGH), a new molecular cytogenetic technique for mapping chromosomal and subchromosomal imbalances, is breaking new ground in cancer genetics.

HUNTINGTON, NY--Imagine a website designed exclusively for cancer professionals. It would, of course, offer free access to Medline via a state-of-the-art search tool, as well as access to the National Cancer Institute's PDQ database and CancerLit.

Drs. Blanchard, Albrecht, and Ruckdeschel provide a whirlwind tour of research on families and cancer. The article has an ambitious mission. It attempts to establish how cancer affects families, through a review of studies that assess the psychological

Postmastectomy radiotherapy has been used since the early part of the 20th century in an effort to decrease local recurrences and potentially improve survival. It clearly reduces the rate of local chest-wall failure following mastectomy, increases relapse-

Blanchard et al provide an excellent review of the literature on the psychosocial adjustment of caregivers of the cancer patient. The importance of caregiver function and adaptation to the clinical status of the cancer patient is generally conceded, but the

With the increased use of doxorubicin-based chemotherapy, chemoendocrine therapy, and high-dose chemotherapy with autologous bone marrow transplantation or peripheral blood progenitor-cell reinfusion, the role

WASHINGTON--A new player has entered the cancer policy arena. At the instigation of NCI director Richard D. Klausner, MD, the National Research Council has established the National Cancer Policy Board to aid the NCI in dealing with policy matters and strategic planning issues outside of cancer research.

Clinical practice guidelines have been a subject of increasing interest for the past several years, and, recently, they have been developed for oncology. In March, 1996, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), a coalition of 15 major US cancer centers, presented the first version of their practice guidelines in oncology. These guidelines covered most of the major cancer sites.

BETHESDA, Md--Nobel laureate David Baltimore, PhD, will lead a National Institutes of Health effort to revive the flagging search for an effective HIV vaccine. NIH Director Harold Varmus, MD, named Dr. Baltimore to head a committee that will search for new ideas and new approaches to a research endeavor that has failed to yield a vaccine after a decade of intense work.

NEW YORK--Cancer Care, Inc. has a new booklet, "Pain in HIV/AIDS: Control Your Pain So It Doesn't Control You," that provides information about pain management to people with HIV, to help them advocate for themselves and receive

Researchers at Ohio State University have developed a technique that fuses the images produced by nuclear medicine scans with images produced by CT scans.

Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University have discovered that the protein guanylyl cyclase C (GCC) is expressed in humans solely in the intestines, including the colon and rectum, making it a selective marker for colorectal tumors that

NEW YORK--When selecting a physician, the most important question an HIV patient can ask is, How many HIV/AIDS patients have you treated? Ramon A. Gabriel Torres, MD, medical director, AIDS Center, St. Vincent's Hospital, NY, said at a teleconference sponsored by Cancer Care Inc. and the Gay Men's Health Crisis.

WASHINGTON--An announcement by NIH director Harold E. Varmus, MD, of a plan to form a national pain research consortium came as a complete, but pleasant surprise to the American Pain Society, Martin Grabois, MD, president of the Society, said in an interview with Oncology News International.

CHICAGO--Medical groups that advocate routine screening mammogra-phy for women between the ages of 40 and 49 have new ammunition to challenge the NCI's controversial 1993 decision to raise the suggested age for beginning mammography screening to 50 years.

ORLANDO--Fludarabine (Flu-dara) improves response, duration of response, and progression-free survival over standard therapy in previously untreated patients with active B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and it should be included in the list of drugs for first-line treatment of this disease, Kanti R. Rai, MD, said at the 38th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

Secondary lymphedema is quite prevalent in cancer patients who require lymph node dissection for staging and/or treatment of their disease. Chronic lymphedema may arise shortly after surgical intervention or months to years afterward. The tendency of chronic lymphedema is to worsen over time.