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PALM SPRINGS, Calif--Women with HIV represent the fastest growing segment of the epidemic and are among the most vulnerable for the undermanage-ment of both pain and psychological distress, Robert Boland, MD, and Margaret McDonald, CSW, said at the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine meeting.

At the 1995 American Society of Hematology meeting in Seattle, Washington, researchers from UCLA School of Medicine presented results from a 21-month, phase III clinical study showing that long-term pamidronate disodium (Aredia) therapy reduces skeletal-related episodes in patients with stage III multiple myeloma and also improves survival in those on salvage therapy. Pamidronate disodium is the first medical therapy proven to reduce pathologic fractures and other skeletal complications in patients with multiple myeloma.

PITTSBURGH--The Health Care Financing Administration's current re-evaluation of reimbursements for physician work and practice expenses could have "a major impact" on chemotherapy administration cost codes, Joseph S. Bailes, MD, said at the Association of Community Cancer Center's 1995 Oncology Symposium.

I would like to call your attention to a misleading statement that appeared in the Industry Watch section of the October, 1995, issue of Oncology News International under the title "Casodex Approved for Prostatic Cancer" (page 23).

OAK BROOK, Ill--Young physicians seeking careers in radiation on-cology may have severely limited employment opportunities in the foreseeable future, according to the American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO). The College forecasts that up to 1,000 radiation oncologists will be either underemployed or unemployed shortly after the year 2000.

WASHINGTON--The new director of the National Cancer Institute envisions the NCI as an institute focused on science, but with a responsibility toward the community to disseminate information and be involved in larger issues.

The following recommendations have been developed to provide guidance to healthcare workers when educating women

In Los Angeles, the future seems to arrive a little sooner than in the rest of the country. The defense-based economy has crashed and burned, shifting hundreds of thousands of employees into managed care plans, mostly HMOs.

PHILADELPHIA--The clinical practice guidelines developed by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), to be presented at the coalition's first conference in March, represent the first step toward a larger goal--developing a database of how those guidelines are used throughout the network.

BETHESDA, Md--At its most recent meeting, the National Cancer Advisory Board heard a report on the Division of Cancer Treatment, Diagnosis, and Centers and its efforts to promote third-party payer support for clinical trials.

BETHESDA, Md--The American Urologic Association has named Judd W. Moul, MD, Prostate Educator of the Year. Dr. Moul is director, Center for Prostate Disease Research, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

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.