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HOUSTON--Combining spinal stabilization with currently used surgical procedures is producing improved results in spinal cord compression patients, Ziya Gokaslan, MD, a neurosurgeon at The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, reported at a symposium on cancer and the central nervous system.

REHOVOT, Israel--A new form of high spacial resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may improve the diagnosis of breast and other cancers, and may aid in predicting cancer prognosis and monitoring the effectiveness of therapy, says Hadassa Degani, PhD, of the Weizmann Institute of Science.

CHICAGO--When physicians squared off on the issue of brachytherapy (interstitial radioactive seed placement) for prostate cancer at the Prostate Cancer Shootout II conference, the lines could not have been drawn more clearly.

DENVER--Delivery of fentanyl citrate via the oral mucosa was shown to relieve breakthrough cancer pain within 15 minutes in two thirds of patients, and sometimes within 5 minutes, according to studies presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting.

LOS ANGELES--A new nonprofit organization is committed to the proposition that all cancer patients should have access to legal resources. The Cancer Legal Resource Center, a joint program of the Western Law Center for Disability Rights and Loyola Law School, is a confidential source of information for a wide variety of legal issues, including job discrimination, insurance coverage, estate planning, guardianships, living wills, and durable powers of attorney.

BETHESDA, Md--Patients with malignant bone disease are benefiting from more widespread use of currently available bisphosphonates, and a new generation of bisphosphonate compounds under investigation appears to have higher potency, allowing for smaller doses, researchers said at an NIH symposium on the skeletal complications of malignancy.

BETHESDA, Md--Thalidomide, paclitaxel (Taxol), and vinorelbine (Navelbine) have all shown promise in phase II trials as treatment for Kaposi's sarcoma in AIDS, researchers reported at the National AIDS Malignancy Conference. Although progress has come in treating KS, more effective drugs are needed, especially in light of the lengthening life span emerging for AIDS patients from the use of drug combinations.

HOUSTON--Recent studies suggest that the key to improving end-of-life care is ensuring that the medical staff, including physicians, is properly trained to support patients physically, emotionally, and spiritually during their final days.

Today, more emphasis is being placed on quality of life assessment in the evaluation of the efficacy of medical care.[1,2] A new study, described below, along with other international quality of life studies, suggests that physicians and their patients may place different values on different health outcomes of treatment, depending on socioeconomic status and cultural milieu.

Thousands of practice guidelines/practice parameters have been published by various professional organizations. The American Medical Association,[1] American College of Physicians,[2,3] and others[4-6] have written extensively about

The development of a new drug is not only complex but also requiresa major investment in time, resources, patients, and most important, a

Spiegel and Moore draw an important distinction between the use of psychological techniques to promote quality of life and their use to promote quantity of life. On the one hand, a considerable body of research documents that hypnosis and other psychological techniques improve the quality of life of cancer patients. On the other hand, only limited empiric evidence supports the view that imagery and other psychological techniques increase the quantity of life of cancer patients.

Many patients with cancer often seek some means of connecting their mental activity with the unwelcome events occurring in their bodies, via techniques such as imagery and hypnosis. Hypnosis has been shown to be an

The results from preclinical studies using murine tumor models show that the combination of docetaxel (Taxotere) and fluorouracil (5-FU) is highly synergistic. Phase I studies in patients

WASHINGTON--Gastroenterologists and urologists routinely perform digital rectal examinations (DREs) on their patients and therefore are in a good position to also do regular colorectal cancer screening via fecal occult blood testing and to look for prostate abnormalities via a prostate examination.

WILMINGTON, Del--A Federal judge has ordered CellPro, Inc. to pay Johns Hopkins University, Becton Dickinson & Company, and Baxter Healthcare Corp. $7 million in damages for its willful infringement of patents involving stem cell selection technology.

BETHESDA, Md--A review of 10 years' experience with HIV-infected patients treated at University Hospital, Newark, NJ, revealed significantly elevated levels of several types of cancers, but a surprising dearth of invasive cervical cancers, which prompted the study's lead author to suggest dropping cervical cancer from the list of AIDS-associated malignancies.

HUNTINGTON, NY--Health care professionals can now enjoy a daily cancer newspaper with their morning coffee--by logging on to the Cancer Information Network's daily news journal Oncology News International Today.

BETHESDA, Md--The NCI is calling for nominations for a new initiative--the Director's Consumer Liaison Group (DCLG). This group will help the NCI increase the representation of the cancer advocacy community on NCI advisory committees and increase the involvement of consumer advocates in program and policy development.

SAN FRANCISCO--Although malignant mesothelioma, a tumor usually found in the pleurae, is still uncommon, its incidence has been rising over the past two decades, probably due to long-term exposures to asbestos, Henri G. Colt, MD, said at a panel session at the American Lung Association/American Thoracic Society 1997 International Conference.

Karen T. Pitman, MD: We will be discussing the case of a 64-year-old woman who was referred to the Department of Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, with the chief complaint of a nonhealing ulcer in the oral cavity that

ASCO--Two randomized trials have shown that an oral serotonin antagonist, granisetron (Kytril) tablets, is equal in safety and efficacy to an intravenous drug of the same class in preventing emesis in patients undergoing emetogenic chemotherapy.

Although it is clear that diet plays a role in the etiology of many cancers, making dietary recommendations to reduce risk is highly complicated, if possible at all, according to an international cancer prevention expert.

Newer radiation treatments--brachytherapy and conformal radiotherapy--were discussed at a symposium at the 1996 meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) in Los Angeles.

Infant screening for neuroblastoma, one of the most common forms of solid tumors in young children, fails to detect the most severe form of the disease, according to a group of international researchers led by University of Minnesota faculty. After

WASHINGTON--Myles Cunningham, MD, president of the American Cancer Society (ACS), announced new ACS guidelines for screening and surveillance for early detection of colorectal polyps and cancer. The announcement came at a press briefing held during Digestive Disease Week.

An estimated one-third of HIV-positive women who smoke during pregnancy and do not take zidovudine (AZT [Retrovir]) may pass HIV on to their babies.

SAN FRANCISCO--The movie critics Siskel and Ebert rate good movies with a "thumbs up" sign and bad ones with "thumbs down." Now, the Sacramento-Emigrant Trails Affiliate of the American Lung Association (ALA) is using these symbols to rate movies and TV shows in their portrayal of smoking.

NEW ORLEANS--Integrated health care systems, such as HMOs, offer clear advantages for epidemiologic research, Edward Wagner, MD, MPH, said at the American Society of Preventive Oncology (ASPO) annual meeting. Dr. Wagner is director of the Center for Health Studies of Group Health Cooperative, a Seattle-based HMO.

Albert H. Owens, Jr, MD, President of the National Coalition for Cancer Research (NCCR), urged the National Cancer Policy Board to "focus on the policies and practices affecting cancer research because, without doubt, research is the