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SEATTLE-A fully implemented large-core needle biopsy program can dramatically improve the positive predictive value of surgical biopsy of breast lesions, based on the experience of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston. Jessica Leung, MD, instructor in radiology, Harvard Medical School, presented the study at the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Roentgen Ray Society.

SEATTLE-A 1-year follow-up with mammography appears to be sufficient to detect any false-negative results of ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration in patients with nonpalpable breast masses, according to a study from the Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY. Shalom Buchbinder, MD, director of mammography, presented the study at the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Roentgen Ray Society.

ROCKVILLE, Maryland-The FDA has approved Amgen’s Aranesp (darbepoetin alfa) for Injection for the treatment of anemia associated with chronic renal failure, including patients on dialysis and patients not on dialysis.

Interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has grown dramatically over the past several years. Cancer patients are always looking for new hope, and many have turned to nontraditional means. This study was

Records from 653 patients treated between 1991 and 1998 in the Oncology Practice Patterns Study (OPPS) were analyzed to determine contemporary chemotherapy delivery patterns in patients with intermediate-grade non-

Interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has grown dramatically over the past several years. Cancer patients are always looking for new hope, and many have turned to nontraditional means. This study was

Interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has grown dramatically over the past several years. Cancer patients are always looking for new hope, and many have turned to nontraditional means. This study was

Effective radiotherapy for patients with cancer should include maximal tumor cell killing with minimal injury to normal tissue. Radiation doses that can be delivered, without causing severe damage to surrounding normal

Interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has grown dramatically over the past several years. Cancer patients are always looking for new hope, and many have turned to nontraditional means. This study was

Records from 653 patients treated between 1991 and 1998 in the Oncology Practice Patterns Study (OPPS) were analyzed to determine contemporary chemotherapy delivery patterns in patients with intermediate-grade non-

Records from 653 patients treated between 1991 and 1998 in the Oncology Practice Patterns Study (OPPS) were analyzed to determine contemporary chemotherapy delivery patterns in patients with intermediate-grade non-

This endoscopic photograph was obtained during an upper-gastrointestinal endoscopy on a 60-year-old gentleman with epigastric abdominal pain and melena. The photograph was taken in the stomach.

WASHINGTON-Medicare will soon institute a policy to cover all its beneficiaries for treatments to remove actinic keratoses, sun-induced precancerous skin lesions confined to the epidermis. The decision establishes the first national coverage policy for the disorder without restrictions based on lesion or patient characteristics.

WASHINGTON-Stage II and III rectal cancer patients who achieve a complete response (CR) to neoadjuvant chemoradiation do not enjoy any long-term survival advantage over patients who do not, Mark Onaitis, MD, of Duke University Medical Center, said at the 54th Annual Cancer Symposium of the Society of Surgical Oncology.

SAN ANTONIO-Enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drugs (EIAEDs) can significantly alter the metabolism of irinotecan (Camptosar) and should be taken into consideration when treating patients for brain tumors, according to John G. Kuhn, PharmD. Dr. Kuhn is professor of Pharmacology and Medicine at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio, Texas. He discussed data on irinotecan pharmacokinetics from an ongoing North American Brain Tumor Consortium (NABTC) phase I study.

SAN DIEGO, California-Patients’ differing goals for pain relief may explain some of the variability in pain outcomes. In an attempt to better understand and document these goals, Marie A. Flannery, RN, MS, a nurse practitioner and senior associate at the University of Rochester Cancer Center, developed a 13-item "goals for pain relief" scale.

WASHINGTON, DC-Irinotecan (Camptosar) and epirubicin (Ellence) both have single-agent activity in a number of cancers, and they have different toxicity profiles. John L. Marshall, MD, and colleagues at the Lombardi Cancer Center in Washington, DC, have been working on a phase I trial of epirubicin in combination with irinotecan in patients with various advanced cancers. Dr. Marshall, associate professor and director of Developmental Therapeutics and GI Oncology at the Lombardi Cancer Center reported that doses had to be lowered after the original protocol produced serious myelosuppression in the first four patients treated, but the study has recently reopened.

NASHVILLE, Tennessee-Irinotecan (Camptosar) has been added to the combination of SU-5416/5-fluorouracil (5-FU)/leucovorin, and is being tested in a phase I/II study in metastatic colorectal cancer. That study is being conducted at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Due to dose-limiting toxicity, the schedule and/or dose will be altered to make it more tolerable, according to Jordan D. Berlin, MD, assistant professor of medicine and oncology at Vanderbilt Medical Center.

With House passage of the Ganske bill (H.R. 526, introduced by Rep. Greg Ganske, R-IA), it is now certain that there will

HOUSTON-Irinotecan (Camptosar)/cisplatin (Platinol) is being studied as induction therapy for carcinoma of the esophagus and in a separate trial as second-line therapy of advanced gastric carcinoma. Jaffer A. Ajani, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, presented information on the two trials.

SAN FRANCISCO-Novel erythropoiesis stimulating protein (NESP, darbepoetin-alfa, Aranesp) is an investigational recombinant erythropoietic protein that binds to the erythropoietin receptor and stimulates erythropoiesis by the same mechanism as recombinant human erythropoietin (epoetin alfa, Procrit, Epogen).

SAN FRANCISCO-There is no shortage of educational programs on terminal care, advance directives, and breaking bad news to cancer patients. However, an equally challenging task is often overlooked in these training sessions: what to say when treatment fails to cure or control the disease.

WASHINGTON-Data from patients granted "compassionate use" of an investigational cancer drug are examined but not usually pooled with controlled clinical trial findings when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers whether to approve a new drug application (NDA), according to Richard Pazdur, MD, director of the FDA’s Division of Oncologic Drug Products.

EAST LANSING, Mich-Although much of cancer care now takes place in the outpatient and home setting, the oncology care system has not fully incorporated "family care" for patients at home. While this shift has translated into increased family involvement in day-to-day care, there are few documented, effective strategies to guide family members caring for patients with advanced cancer.

DURHAM, North Carolina-Topoisomerase-I inhibitors in combination with carmustine (BiCNU, Gliadel) or temozolomide (Temodar) have produced promising early results in patients with malignant gliomas, according to Henry S. Friedman, MD. He is the James B. Powell, Jr., Professor of Neuro-Oncology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina.

ANAHEIM, California-After prostatectomy, early adjuvant radiation therapy for margin-positive disease appears to significantly decrease the rate of biochemical failure, according to a report from the American Urological Association annual meeting (abstract 684).

BETHESDA, Maryland-In a survey of terminally ill patients (half of them with cancer), only about one third of those with moderate to severe pain had requested more therapy from their physician during the previous month.

SAN FRANCISCO-Motexafin gadolinium (Xcytrin), an experimental drug that makes brain tumors more sensitive to radiation, appears to be well tolerated in adults with primary glioblastoma multiforme and children with gliomas, according to preliminary results from two phase I trials presented at the 37th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

WASHINGTON-A second Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Tommy G. Thompson, has refused to allow the reimporting of US-made prescription drugs back into the country. Former HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala made the same determination last December.

HOUSTON, Texas-Interim data from a trial of relatively high-dose irinotecan (Camptosar) given every 3 weeks show that the regimen can be tolerated and has substantial activity in relapsed aggressive or indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (NHL). Andreas H. Sarris, MD, PhD, associate internist in the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, discussed the ongoing study. "Irinotecan weekly schedules have been associated with both early and delayed diarrhea, which is often dose limiting. Recent studies have demonstrated that 300 mg/m² IV every 21 days is active and tolerated in patients with colon cancer," Dr. Sarris said.