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For more than 25 years, chemotherapy has been the cornerstone of treatment for small-cell lung cancer. Many studies have tested a wide variety of drugs in different combinations, resulting in a number of standard

Lung cancer is the leading cause of death due to cancer in the United States, and approximately 178,100 new cases were estimated to occur last year. Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for approximately 17% to 25% of all lung cancers. Due to its aggressive nature and rapid proliferation rate, small-cell lung cancer is usually widespread at diagnosis. Therefore, chemotherapy is the cornerstone of therapy for this disease. Cisplatin (Platinol) is an active chemotherapeutic agent used to treat small-cell lung cancer, but its toxicity, including nausea and vomiting, nephrotoxicity, neurotoxicity, and ototoxicity, has led to the investigation of combination regimens with different toxicity profiles. Carboplatin (Paraplatin), a derivative of cisplatin, has far less nonhematologic toxicity, although myelosuppression may be slightly greater than that observed with cisplatin. The reduced toxicity and equivalent efficacy of carboplatin have resulted in the increased use of carboplatin-based regimens to treat small-cell lung cancer. Phase I and II trials of carboplatin as single-agent treatment for small-cell lung cancer resulted in overall response rates of approximately 60% for previously untreated patients and 17% for those who had received prior therapy. New combination chemotherapy regimens that include carboplatin may improve survival in patients with small-cell lung cancer and potentially cure those patients with limited disease. Further investigation of carboplatin and other new agents is warranted.[ONCOLOGY 12(Suppl 2):36-43, 1998]

A study presented at the 39th Annual American Society of Hematology (ASH) Meeting in San Diego offers the promise of an improved drug treatment, PSC833, for acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Genetics Institute, Inc., a subsidiary of American Home Products Corporation, has received FDA approval to market oprelvekin (recombinant interleukin-11 [Neumega]), a platelet growth factor that stimulates the production of blood platelets

Rituximab (Rituxan) has been cleared for marketing by the FDA. Previously known as the C2B8 antibody, rituximab, is a single-agent monoclonal antibody therapy for relapsed or refractory, low-grade or follicular, CD20-positive, B-cell non-

Cinical practice guidelines for gynecologic oncology were developed under the direction of the Medical Practice and Ethics Committee of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists (SGO) in concert with national trends in medical care in the United

The Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) has begun a public education campaign, entitled “Wake Up to Cancer Fatigue,” which will feature the first Cancer Fatigue Awareness Day on April 2, 1998. The purpose of the campaign is to educate

ORLANDO-Why is there such a wide variation in the way radiologists practice across the United States? “It’s a puzzle to me, why similar patients in different locations receive different treatments,” Philip N. Cascade, MD, said as he posed the question at the annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

In 1991, approximately 13.8 million adults in the United States met diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence, or both. In addition, at least 80% of persons in this group were likely to be daily tobacco smokers and,

NEW ORLEANS-Basic science research efforts may be paying off in the understanding of malignant gliomas, potentially leading to treatments for this aggressive, deadly tumor, scientists reported at the Society for Neuroscience meeting.

ASH-Breast cancer transplant patients who received stem cell factor (SCF) combined with G-CSF (Neupogen) for stem cell mobilization produced significantly more stem cells with fewer aphereses than those who received G-CSF alone, Elizabeth Shpall, MD, of the University of Colorado, Denver, said in her presentation at the American Society of Hematology meeting in San Diego.

NEW YORK-The Leukemia Society of America has increased the funding for its 1998 Translational Research Awards. The awards will now be made for an initial 3 years with an annual maximum of $100,000 in direct costs and 8% overhead, with a possible renewal for an additional 2 years for projects leading to clinical trials.

EAST HANOVER, NJ-Novartis Pharmaceuticals has received FDA approval to market Sandostatin LAR Depot (octreotide acetate for injectable suspension) for the treatment of acromegaly and to control the symptoms of metastatic carcinoid tumors and the profuse watery diarrhea associated with vasoactive intestinal peptide secreting tumors (VIPomas).

NEW ORLEANS-A new generation of angiogenesis inhibitors has been shown to shrink large tumors in mice, without toxicity and without the development of drug resistance, Judah P. Folkman, MD, said in the Honor Lecture in Physiology at the American College of Chest Physicians annual meeting.

ASH-A single dose of a radiolabeled murine anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (IDEC-Y2B8) has produced responses in more than 80% of patients with relapsed or refractory low-grade or follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), Thomas E. Witzig, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, said in his presentation at the American Society of Hematology meeting in San Diego.

Long-term follow-up data on patients treated with pentostatin (Nipent) were presented at the 39th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Diego, California. Pentostatin is currently indicated in the United States for first-line treatment of hairy cell leukemia.

BETHESDA, Md-The National Cancer Institute has strongly challenged the notion, initiated at an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conference and widely dispersed by a newspaper article, that the United States is in the midst of an epidemic of childhood cancers.

WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration has decided not to extend Medicaid coverage to all low-income people infected with HIV. Currently, HIV-positive patients who have developed AIDS can receive Medicaid benefits even if they are not poor enough to qualify under normal Medicaid guidelines.

CHICAGO-A consistent worry in the managed care era has been that the purchasers of oncology services (the payers) would be held accountable only for the cost of care because good measures of quality were not available. Now, new sets of quality measures are being developed that cover all parties involved in the provision of health services, said Linda L. Emanuel, MD, PhD, vice president of Ethics Standards for the American Medical Association (AMA).

WASHINGTON-Congress should increase funding for research to find more effective ways to counter the symptoms of cancer and its treatments, including the common debilitating problems of pain and nausea and vomiting.

WASHINGTON-Those were not your ordinary pop bands playing away at the DC Science Writers Association’s annual holiday bash at the National Academy of Sciences building.

Researchers presented new strategies to protect patients from life-threatening infections caused by dose-intensive anticancer therapy at a symposium held in conjunction with the 39th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

CHICAGO-A new radiological study suggests that protease inhibitors can not only halt the progression of HIV-related brain disease but, in some cases, may be able to reverse it, Christopher G. Filippi, MD, said at the Radiological Society of North America annual meeting.

WASHINGTON-The federal government wants a share of the $368.5 billion settlement worked out between the attorneys general of 40 states and the tobacco industry. The states say no. And the ultimate decision may rest with the Congress of the United States, adding another complicating factor to cementing the settlement agreement into law.

Geron Corporation announced in Nature Genetics that it has, for the first time, produced telomerase activity in normal, mortal human cells using the recently cloned gene for the human telomerase catalytic protein.

ASH-Researchers at the American Society of Hematology meeting in San Diego presented studies of three new growth factors under development by Amgen: megakaryocyte growth and development factor (MGDF); novel erythropoiesis stimulating protein (NESP); and keratinocyte growth factor (KGF).

Dr. Hoffman and colleagues have persisted in their efforts to provide a safe, reliable pelvic prosthesis to protect the small bowel during high-dose radiation therapy. I started using this type of plastic device in the early 1980s as part of the management of advanced primary and recurrent rectal cancer.[1,2] Similar to data reported by Drs. Hoffman, Sigurdson, and Eisenberg in this issue, my colleagues and I at the National Cancer Institute also noted a learning curve that accompanied our experience. We reported our experience with two iliac artery fistulas that occurred after extensive radiation therapy, possibly due to the prosthesis.[3] Sepsis within the irradiated field and surrounding the prosthesis led to a prosthesis-related death in one patient. A second patient who had multiple postoperative complications died of a pulmonary embolus.

Dr. Hicks and his associates have written an excellent article that summarizes current knowledge about the biologic behavior of differentiated carcinoma of the thyroid gland and explores current controversies related to its management. Their review is reasonably complete, citing most of the important recent references on the subject. Regarding treatment con- troversies, the authors discuss the differing philosophies of various investigators and place into perspective the data supporting these opposing viewpoints.

The article by Hoffman, Sigurdson, and Eisenberg updates their experience in the use of temporary saline-filled tissue expanders (TEs) for small bowel exclusion. In their initial prospective study of 34 patients with a median time of patient surveillance after TE placement of 18 months, the authors demonstrated that small bowel was displaced from more than 95% of the radiation therapy treatment volume in 70% of 27 evaluable patients and from more than 75% of the treatment volume in 89% of patients.[1]

A pilot study conducted at the National Cancer Institute in Milan, Italy assessed the efficacy of six or eight cycles of paclitaxel (Taxol) 200 mg/m² q3wks plus doxorubicin (Adriamycin) (60 mg/m² q3wks) in 49 women with