All News

BETHESDA, Md--The three-member President's Cancer Panel heard evidence from a number of speakers that HIV-related malignancies are increasing at a significant rate.

BETHESDA, Md--One hundred years after W. Konrad Roentgen's discovery of the x-ray (which he refused to patent), the field of radiology continues to produce "wondrous accomplishments," such as modern digital, cross-sectional, and interventional radiology, Alexander R. Margulis, MD, associate chancellor, Special Projects, University of California, San Francisco, said at a conference sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services.

CONCORD, NH--Pharmaceutical companies were the pioneers in establishing cancer screening and information programs for their employees. This is why Jack Gentile went first to the pharmaceutical industry for help in founding the Industries' Coalition Against Cancer, an organization dedicated to encouraging corporations to initiate their own cancer screen/prevention programs or to enhance existing programs.

SAN FRANCISCO--A retrospective study of 61 endometrial cancers, collected from patients at the City of Hope Hospital, Duarte, Calif, found that approximately 49% of the tumors had some type of DNA abnormality, Kristi Van Nostrand, MD, reported at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) annual clinical meeting.

ATLANTA--Two studies from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center have shown that neutropenic fever can be safely and effectively managed on an outpatient basis in a select, low-risk group of patients, Edward Rubenstein, MD, said at the Third International Conference on Clinical Applications of Cytokines and Growth Factors in Hematology and Oncology.

DURHAM, NC--Duke University Medical Center and ExVivo Therapies have announced a collaboration to construct and operate a cell processing center, the first on the East Coast. ExVivo is a joint venture between Applied Immune Sciences (AIS) and Rhône-Poulenc Rorer.

NEW YORK--The "right" dose of pain medication is the one that works, Ronald Blum, MD, said at a conference on cancer pain sponsored by Cancer Care, Inc. But that simple maxim is not so easy to follow.

BALTIMORE--A review of randomized trials shows that local recurrence rates for breast-conserving therapy are comparable to those for mastectomy for early-stage patients, Irene Gage, MD, said at a conference sponsored by Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.

Volume 3 of Cambridge Medical Reviews: Haematologic Oncology provides detailed reviews on 10 topics of current interest in the field of hematologic malignancies. The text is organized into 10 chapters and has 22 contributors.

HR1579, introduced by Rep. Brown (D-OH), to require providers of home infusion therapy to be licensed and to limit physician referrals for home infusion therapy services in which the physician has a financial interest.

The annual prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults in the United States declined 40% during 1965 to 1990 (from

WASHINGTON--President Clinton has appointed Dr. Richard D. Klausner as director of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Klausner has served as chief, Cell Biology and Metabolism Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, since 1984. He earned his undergraduate degree at Yale and his MD from Duke.

WASHINGTON--The $1 billion cut that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) had anticipated has been shelved for the time being. The Senate voted 85 to 14 on a resolution by Sen. Mark Hatfield (R-OR) to spare NIH from the need to make serious cuts in a wide variety of programs and initiatives.

NEW YORK--Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has launched Cancer Smart, the first consumer newsletter devoted to cancer. "Many people today have taken an increasingly bigger share of responsibility for keeping themselves healthy," said James B. Dougherty, MD, editor of Cancer Smart and associate chairman for clinical affairs, Department of Medicine. "Reading Cancer Smart is an opportunity to gain relevant information about cancer to improve their own well-being," he added.

BETHESDA, Md--One of the discoverers of HIV, Robert C. Gallo, MD, is leaving the National Cancer Institute after 30 years, most recently as head of the Division of Tumor Cell Biology.

WASHINGTON--Many of the patients who will die of cancer this year will receive care in the nation's intensive care units. Despite heralded advances in drug research and medical technology, fewer than one fourth of cancer patients admitted to an ICU survive for 6 months, Mark S. Gelder, MD, said at the American Cancer Society National Conference on Gynecologic Cancers.

ANNANDALE, NJ--Medarex, Inc. and Ciba-Geigy, Ltd. have entered into an alliance for developing and marketing Medarex's MDX-210 Bispecific product. Medarex will be primarily responsible for development through phase II trials, and Ciba will be responsible for phase III trials, regulatory approvals, and commercial launch.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla--The French response to the FDA ban on silicone breast implants was to issue a strong recommendation to plastic surgeons to stop using silicone-gel-filled implants or polyurethane prostheses. Now that stricter manufacturing controls are in place, that recommendation has been canceled, and today silicone implants are available in most European countries, Jean-Yves Petit, MD, said at the 12th Annual International Breast Cancer Conference.

LOS ANGELES--In response to the questions being raised by new medical technologies and managed health care, City of Hope has established its Institute for Applied Health Care Ethics on its 100-acre Duarte, Calif, campus.

STANFORD, Calif--Screening surgeons for HIV to protect their patients would not be cost effective, compared to the cost of most accepted health-care interventions, says Dr. Douglas Owens, professor of health research and policy, Stanford University School of Medicine.

MCLEAN, Va--The way clinical trials are planned and conducted often means the difference between success and failure in winning FDA marketing approval for a drug or medical device, industry leaders said at a conference sponsored by the Cambridge Healthtech Institute, Waltham, Mass.

Genetics Institute, Inc. announced positive results of a phaseII study of recombinant human interleukin-eleven (rhIL-11). In

Variations in structural proteins found in the nucleus of prostatecells may indicate whether a cell will become cancerous, according

BASLE, Switzerland--Sandoz Ltd. has entered into a merger agreement with Genetic Therapy, Inc (Gaithersburg, Md) with a cash tender offer valued at $295 million. The acquisition "puts Sandoz at the forefront of gene therapy technology," said Daniel Vasella, MD, CEO of Sandoz Pharma.

A new minimally invasive surgery can provide better diagnosisand staging of cancer, according to a presentation at the 48th

MINNEAPOLIS--Breast imaging with FDG PET can identify breast cancer with a high specificity, a German study has shown. This technique visualizes malignant tumor tissue by increased FDG (fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose) uptake (see image on " FDG PET Imaging Visualizes Malignant Breast Lesions"), said Norbert Avril, MD, of the Department of Nuclear Medicine, Technical University, Munich.

The signs and symptoms of brachial plexopathy are commonly seen in patients with cancer and pose a formidable management challenge. Tumor infiltration and radiation injury to the brachial plexus are the most common causes, and the distinction between the two has obvious prognostic and therapeutic implications. Dr. Kori reviews the clinical features and treatment options for each of these clinical entities and attempts to define the criteria that differentiate them.

Brachial plexus dysfunction is a well-known complication of cancer. Metastatic brachial plexopathy (MBP) and radiation injury to the brachial plexus (RBP) are the most common causes. The distinction between MBP and

WASHINGTON--The House of Representatives Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health heard opinions on what sort of final regulations should be issued concerning the recently expanded self-referral laws: namely, enforce the bill as written (HCFA's view) or add major exceptions to the bill (the AMA's view).

S5755, an amendment (no. 603) introduced by Sen. McConnell (R-KY), to reform the health-care liability system and improve health-care quality through establishment of quality assurance programs, was agreed to by voice vote.