All News

WASHINGTON--The original 'war on cancer' was declared by the President of the United States in 1971, and a cure was promised within 10 years. In that same year, Texas Instruments was developing the first pocket calculator and Intel had just introduced the microchip, said financier Michael R. Milken at the National Cancer Summit. The meeting was sponsored by the Association for the Cure of Cancer of the Prostate (CaP CURE, see box on page 20), which Mr. Milken founded, and by other leading cancer organizations.

Acquired susceptibility mutation--A mutation in a gene that occurs after birth from a carcinogenic insult. Allele--One of several mutational forms of a specific gene.

MIAMI BEACH--Early-stage prostate cancer patients treated with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) at the University of Michigan Medical Center had excellent survival rates with few complications, Howard Sandler, MD, reported at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) meeting.

WASHINGTON--The George Washington University Medical Center will soon be providing mobile mammog-raphy services in Washington, DC. Allan B. Weingold, MD, vice president for medical affairs, announced the project at the Fifth Annual Jo Oberstar Memorial Lecture, delivered by Tipper Gore, wife of Vice President Al Gore (see box below).

WASHINGTON--In 1990, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf commanded the imagination of the American people during his service as Commander of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. At the First National Congress on Cancer Survivorship, he stormed the stage of the Washington Court Hotel to describe his role as a prostate cancer survivor and patient advocate. The message was simple and personal. "I am here," the general said, "because I won a battle."

PITTSBURGH--Physicians in Pennsylvania play a "very heavy" role in medical policy decisions for the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) and Pennsylvania Blue Shield, Brent O'Connell, MD, said at the Association of Community Cancer Center's 1995 On-cology Symposium.

The 1995 Cancer Treatment edited by Dr. Charles Haskell is the fourth edition of his original textbook published in 1980. Cancer Treatment has kept pace with advances in oncology over these 15 years, and the fourth edition includes new

BALTIMORE--"Clinical practice guidelines link science and the bedside, helping the doctor and patient to make the best possible decisions," said Mary L. Grady, a technical writer-editor with the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR).

NUTLEY, NJ--Vesanoid (treti-noin, all-trans-retinoic acid) has become the first retinoid to receive a cancer treatment indication from the US Food and Drug Administration. The new agent, from Hoffmann-La Roche, is indicated for induction of remission in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) who are refractory to or have relapsed from anthracycline chemotherapy, or for whom anthracy-cline chemotherapy is contraindicated.

Potent immune cells that have been pretreated with peptides taken from the surface of tumor cells are effective in curing established cancers and in preventing cancers from developing in mice, according to research published in the December 1995 issue of Nature Medicine. Clinical trials of this therapeutic approach will begin soon, according to study investigators.

A malfunctioning "traffic cop" gene apparently plays an important role in the formation of liver cancer, according to researchers from the Duke University Comprehensive Cancer Center and Zeneca Pharmaceuticals of Chesire, United Kingdom.

SEATTLE--DNA from the recently discovered Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) has been isolated in KS lesions as well as some AIDS-related lymphomas, and the new research suggests that foscarnet (Foscavir) may effectively inhibit the virus. Enrique. A. Mesri, PhD, of the Department of Medicine, Cornell University Medical College, reported the findings at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting.

Corticosteroids have not been approved by the FDA for use as antiemetic agents. However, the efficacy of these agents (primarily dexamethasone) when used as single agents for control of emesis has been extensively documented. In addition,

The authors provide a timely introduction to the use of predictive testing as an adjunctive service in the management of a precancerous chronic disease, familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). As they point out, this new technology carries a significant burden for both the caregiver and affected family since it will alter the genetic counseling process, as well as the clinical recommendations for managing FAP. The unique perspective of registry-based research illustrates the value of generational study of a genetic anomaly over a 22-year-period.

The doctor-hospital integrated practice is one possible strategy oncologists may wish to employ in order to stay financially solvent in the current unstable health-care environment. Before entering into an arrangement with a

Testing for adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), the gene responsible for familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), can now be offered to family members in FAP kindreds. With the availability of this test, genetic counseling has become a crucial tool for helping FAP patients and their relatives understand the syndrome and its implications and for assisting at-risk individuals in making informed decisions about whether or not to undergo genetic testing. Genetic counseling can occur at several time points: when FAP is diagnosed, when an FAP patient is considering reproductive options, when a patient is deciding whether to have his or her children screened, and when an at-risk person is considering genetic testing.

PALO ALTO, Calif--New research into the nature of malignant cells deep within the interior of solid tumors suggests a possible explanation as to why tumors with large hypoxic areas tend to be aggressive and treatment resistant.

COLUMBUS, Ohio--Roxane Laboratories and the Roxane Pain Institute have announced two new scholarship programs for health-care professionals in palliative care medicine for cancer and AIDS.

COLLEGEVILLE, PA--Rhône-Poulenc Rorer Inc. and Applied Immune Sciences, Inc. (AIS) have entered into a definitive agreement and plan of merger providing for the acquisition by Rhône-Poulenc Rorer (through its subsidiary RPR Gencell) of AIS at a price of approximately $7.2 million.

SILVER SPRING, Md--The FDA's Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee took action on three anti-HIV agents at its most recent meeting, recommending approval for Hoffmann-La Roche's protease inhibitor saquinavir (Invirase) and Glaxo Wellcome's 3TC (Epivir) in combination with other AIDS drugs, and favoring a new indication for Bristol-Myers Squibb's stavudine (d4T, Zerit), to treat patients who no longer respond to zidovudine (AZT, Retrovir).

WASHINGTON--A new report by the General Accounting Office (GAO) shows that the Food and Drug Administration now approves drugs twice as fast as it did 6 years ago. In 1987 the FDA took an average of 33 months to approve new drugs, while by 1992 it was taking only 19 months.

MARINA DEL REY, Calif--Clinical researchers must develop strategies to cope with the various obstacles faced by patients and physicians who want to participate in research trials, said oncologists at the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) economics conference.

DULUTH, Minn--Community physicians, at least in Minnesota, appear to have the right attitude toward relieving pain in cancer patients but may be deficient in specific areas of knowledge about cancer pain management, say Thomas E. Elliott, MD, and his colleagues with the Minnesota Cancer Pain Project (MCPP), a randomized community trial testing innovative strategies to improve cancer pain management.

SAN ANTONIO--Although the literature suggests that peripheral blood stem cell support for hematologic salvage after high-dose chemotherapy is somewhat less expensive than autologous bone marrow transplant (ABMT), the difference is nowhere near the $80,000 disparity found in diagnostic-related group (DRG)-based reimbursement, Philip Bierman, MD, said at a lymphoma symposium sponsored by the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

WASHINGTON--A study funded by a $600,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute shows that for a 5-year period the Weekly Reader, a newspaper aimed at schoolchildren, may have had a pro-smoking stance. Since 1991, the weekly has been owned by K-III Holdings, a subsidiary of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., which until last spring was majority owner of RJR Nabisco, the second largest US tobacco company.

EDMONTON, Canada--Twice daily 1-hour bolus infusions for subcutaneous hydration (hypodermoclysis) of patients with advanced cancer appear to be effective and well tolerated, say Eduardo Bruera, MD, and his colleagues at the University of Alberta. In addition, the study found that a lower dose of hyaluronidase (Wydase), an enzyme used to facilitate the absorption of water, is as effective as a higher dose.

WASHINGTON--The NHLBI (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) has reduced its support for the NCI's tamoxifen (Nolvadex) prevention trial, saying that the enrollment may not produce useful cardiovascular data.

BALTIMORE--Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s Gliadel biodegradable polymer implants significantly increased survival in a study of 32 patients with malignant glioma undergoing initial surgery. Gliadel wafers or placebo were inserted into the surgical cavity created when the brain tumor was removed, followed 3 weeks later by standard radiation therapy.

In this column, Dr. Alan Nelson, past president of the American Medical Association, has provided a set of goals for oncologic treatment under managed care contracts that can be embraced by all oncologists--choice, broad scope of practice, and communication. But the real message to oncologists is: Work together with internal medicine and primary care physicians to build a system that provides quality care of which everyone can be proud. Such cooperation is needed to help convert these treatment goals into workable contracts with primary care groups, HMOs, and/or insurers.

PHILADELPHIA--New court decisions are putting a damper on the insurance industry's attempts to deny coverage of experimental treatments by writing specific exclusions into their policies. These exclusions most often concern high-dose chemotherapy with autologous bone marrow transplantation (HDC/ABMT), said Karen L. Illuzzi Gallinari, a partner in the New York-based firm of Anderson Kill Olick & Oshinsky.