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SAN FRANCISCO-An outpatient combination of low-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2, Proleukin), interferon alfa-2b (Intron A), and fluorouracil appears to offer response and survival rates similar to high-dose IL-2 with minimal side effects, according to studies conducted by Jens Atzpodien, MD, associate professor of medicine, Medizinische Hochschule, Hannover, Germany.

LOS ANGELES-The Group Room, syndicated radio’s first call-in cancer support program, has added two new stations: San Diego’s KSDO AM 1130 and Dallas/Ft. Worth’s Talk 1190 AM (KOOO), Premiere Radio Networks, Inc. has announced.

NEW YORK-The majority of people in the United States die without discussing or documenting their wishes regarding end-of-life care. Estimates of the number of people who have actually prepared advance directives range from 5% to 25%, said Sylvia Pearl, LCSW, during a national teleconference sponsored by Cancer Care, Inc.

HOUSTON-Approximately 50% to 80% of patients with central nervous system tumors experience emotional and behavioral changes that significantly alter their capacity to function independently and interact in a healthy manner, Alan D. Valentine, MD, said at a symposium on cancer and the central nervous system. In fact, he added, behavioral changes may be one of the first signs that a patient is seriously ill.

ADELAIDE, Australia-A sustained-release morphine formulation that can be administered once or twice a day (Kadian) showed similar efficacy and safety to a standard twice-daily morphine formulation (MS Contin) in a multicen-ter, placebo-controlled US study of cancer pain patients, sponsored by the Australian manufacturers of Kadian.

COLUMBUS, Ohio-A new multi-center study supports the long-term use of dronabinol (Marinol) for anorexia associated with weight loss in patients with AIDS. Dronabinol is a synthetically produced delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the active constituent of marijuana.

The lives of rats with an incurable, rapidly progressing form of brain tumor, similar to glioblastoma in humans, is greatly

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) has announced the formation of a collaborative of health care organizations

NEW ORLEANS-Surgical oncol-ogy patients appear to be overwhelmingly in favor of listening to music before and after their surgery. Besides its soothing powers, music may help in pain control, offering a cost-effective intervention, investigators reported at the Oncology Nursing Society.

SEATTLE-Targeted Genetics Corporation’s tumor suppressor gene product, tgDCC-E1A, is currently being tested in two phase I trials.

Researchers have identified certain T cells that suppress the reproduction of HIV carried within them. These cells, called

The magnitude of the cancer problem directly caused by tobacco use underscoresthe urgent need for accelerating our knowledge and understanding of lung

ROCKVILLE, Md-The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Taxol (paclitaxel) Injection for use in the second-line treatment of AIDS-related Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS). Taxol is also approved for second-line use in metastatic breast and ovarian cancer.

PHILADELPHIA-The proposed tobacco settlement should include support for federally funded cancer research “in proportion to the devastation caused by tobacco-induced cancers on our public health,” the American Association for Cancer Research said in a position statement.

NEW YORK-Along the long road that starts with a cancer diagnosis, good communication will ease the way for patients, families, and physicians alike.

ATLANTA, Ga-The American Cancer Society is inviting proposals from candidates for the newly established Harry and Elsa Jiler American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professorship.

MADISON, NJ-The Biological Response Modifiers Advisory Committee unanimously recommended that the Food and Drug Administration approve Neumega (recombinant human inter-leukin-11 or rhIL-11), Genetics Institute’s platelet growth factor. Genetics Institute is a subsidiary of American Home Products Corporation.

BETHESDA, Md-The Biological Response Modifiers Advisory Committee has recommended that the FDA usher cancer therapy into a new era by approving IDEC Pharamceutical’s Rituxan (rituximab) for patients with relapsed or refractory low-grade or follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The American Cancer Society announces the establishment of the Harryand Elsa Jiler American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professorship

WASHINGTON-The Clinton Administration soon will propose a federal law aimed at protecting the privacy of medical records. The law would allow disclosure of medical records only for reasons of health care. For example, if an employer gained access to an employee’s records during the claims process, the company would not be allowed to use the information in any way that would affect the employee’s job, such as in considering promotions or assignments.

Thousands of practice guidelines/practice parameters have been published by various professional organizations. The American Medical Association,[1] American College of Physicians,[2,3] and others[4-6] have written extensively about

This review of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) by Pannek and Partin, two experts in the prostate marker field, comes at a very good time-a point at which great changes are occurring after a relatively long period of stability. I expect that this trend will continue. Moreover, given the rapid developments occurring in this area, some of the statements made in both the review and my commentary will probably need to be modified within the next 12 months, with further revisions necessary thereafter.

Treatment of esophageal carcinoma requires the realization that this neoplasm is not a single entity with a uniformly poor prognosis. As with any other malignancy, disease stage has prognostic and therapeutic

Radical cystectomy remains standard management for patients with locally advanced T2 through T4, N0, M0 transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder.

HOUSTON--In the current health care environment, peaceful deaths are seriously threatened as clinicians attempt technological brinkmanship and patients and families demand that "everything be done" to extend life, said Rebecca Pentz, PhD, a clinical ethicist at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

WASHINGTON--To maintain its world leadership in clinical care, the nation should levy a 1% tax on health care premiums to pay for clinical research, Kenneth I. Shine, MD, president of the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine (IOM), has proposed.

BETHESDA, Md--The FDA's Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) voted 8 to 4 to recommend that the agency grant traditional new drug approval to Bristol-Myers Squibb's Taxol for Injection Concentrate (paclitaxel) for the second-line treatment of AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma (KS).

SEATTLE--Physicians and nurses frequently confront ethical dilemmas in caring for cancer patients, and these must be resolved on an individual basis, through established principles, Tom McCormick, DMin, senior lecturer in medical ethics, University of Washington, told the Association of Pediatric Oncology Nurses. "I don't think we'll ever see the day," he said, "when we can put all of the alternatives into a computer, press a button, and ask the computer to come up with a decision."

Why we like--and eat--fatty foods was the focus of an address by Dr. Adam Drewnowski, PhD, University of Michigan School of Public Health, at a symposium, "Reducing Dietary Fat: Putting Theory Into Practice," held last December in New

NEW ORLEANS--Informed consent has historically focused on physical risks, but genetic testing will move informed consent into psychosocial areas, Karen Rothenberg, JD, MPA, Marjorie Cook Professor of Law, University of Maryland School of Law, said at the 21st annual meeting of the American Society of Preventive Oncology (ASPO).