Neoadjuvant Androgen Deprivation Before Prostatectomy in T1-T3 Patients
November 1st 1997Androgen deprivation has been used prior to radical prostatectomy in an attempt to improve local control of prostate cancer and delay time to cancer progression. Thirty men (mean age of 65) with clinical stage T3 adenocarcinoma of the prostate were entered into a phase II trial at the University of California, San Francisco, examining the effects of neoadjuvant androgen deprivation (luteinizing hormone-releasing agonist and an antiandrogen) before radical prostatectomy. Twenty-six of these patients subsequently underwent radical prostatectomy. Despite impressive physiological changes in prostate and tumor volume, stage reduction was noted in only 4 patients (15%). Overall, with a mean follow-up of 32.7 months, 72% of patients had evidence of disease recurrence, including detectable PSA. Several series suggest that in patients with stage T1 and T2 disease, the likelihood of a positive surgical margin after radical prostatectomy is decreased substantially by neoadjuvant deprivation. The effect on long-term disease-free survival, however, is still unknown. [Oncol News Int 6(Suppl 3):16-17, 1997
Payers Question Their Role in Financing Clinical Research Trials
November 1st 1997CHICAGO-A recurring theme voiced by members of the oncology community throughout a two-day conference on purchasing oncology services was the need for payers to financially support the participation of cancer patients in NCI-sanctioned clinical trials.
Accuracy Rates of FNA for Breast Cytology Said to Be Increasing
November 1st 1997PHILADELPHIA-Fine needle aspiration (FNA) for breast cytology has a false-positive incidence “very close to zero,” Nadia Al-Kaisi, MD, said in an interview with Oncology News International. “For the past several years,” she said, “the accuracy has increased because of increased recognition of the cytologic features of the various benign and malignant lesions.”
New Machine Design May Reduce Cost of Breast MRI Scans
November 1st 1997MELVILLE, NY--Fonar Corporation has received a patent for new technology in the design of MRI machines for breast exams. By using a high throughput scanner, the company said, the machine should be able to achieve the patient volumes necessary to make MRI more affordable, possibly with scans as low as $80 to $150 versus the current $700 to $1,200.
Panel Recommends Thalidomide Approval For Leprosy, Studies in Cancer Are Reported
October 1st 1997BETHESDA, Md-Thalidomide could be increasingly used off-label to treat several cancers and other diseases if the Food and Drug Administration takes the advice of an advisory committee and, for the first time, approves the agent for marketing in the United States.
The Issue That Won’t Go Away: Screening Mammography
October 1st 1997ATLANTA-Is there any value to yet another debate on screening mam-mography for women aged 40 to 49? Maybe so when one of the speakers is a breast cancer survivor whose disease was diagnosed mammographically at age 39. Especially since that speaker-Frances M. Visco, JD-spoke against universal mammographic screening for younger women.
A Talk With Dr. Richard Klausner, Head of the NCI
October 1st 1997BETHESDA, Md-Richard D. Klausner, MD, became the 11th director of the National Cancer Institute on Aug. 1, 1995. He took over a troubled organization, one torn by accusations of scientific misconduct against several of its researchers and grantees and the target of two critical evaluations.
Single-Agent Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin in Cancer: Current Status and Future Applications
October 1st 1997The usefulness of doxorubicin (Adriamycin) in the treatment of a variety of malignancies is limited by its concomitant toxicity. The encapsulation of chemotherapeutic agents, including doxorubicin, in
Age Is a Factor in Survival of SqCC of the Head and Neck
October 1st 1997SAN FRANCISCO-Most patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) of the head and neck are elderly, and this group has been well represented in studies of the disease, which generally include few patients under the age of 40, said Peter Lacy, MB, FRCSI, a fellow at the Clinical Outcomes Research Office, Washington University Medical Center (WUMC), St. Louis.
Efficacy of HIV ‘Cocktail’ May Spur Efforts for National HIV Reporting
October 1st 1997BOSTON-Two reports have confirmed the value of the so-called HIV cocktail, three-drug combinations that appear to restore immune function in people infected with HIV, at least temporarily. With such treatments available, many believe that the time has come to push for more HIV testing and reporting, so that people can get treatment early when it is most likely to be effective.
Paxene Wins ODAC Backing for Use In AIDS-Associated Kaposi’s Sarcoma
October 1st 1997BETHESDA, Md-For the second time in as many meetings, the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) has recommended that the FDA approve a paclitaxel-based drug for the treatment of AIDS-related Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS).
University of Pittsburgh Apologizes to Dr. Bernard Fisher
October 1st 1997PITTSBURGH-Bernard Fisher, MD, Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, has accepted an apology and cash settlement from the University of Pittsburgh, and withdrawn his defamation suit against the University and the federal government.
How Budget Affects Physicians Who See Medicare Patients
October 1st 1997The fiscal year (FY) 1998 Balanced Budget Act contains several important changes in the Medicare program that affect physicians, including a go-ahead for provider-sponsored organizations (PSOs) (closed networks run by hospitals, doctors, and other providers instead of insurance companies) and new opportunities for the private sector to compete in the Medicare+Choice plans.
Coincidence Detection Allows Wider Use of FDG Scans
October 1st 1997GLASGOW-Gamma camera molecular coincidence detection (MCD) technology allows imaging of positron-emitting radiotracers such as FDG without the need for a dedicated PET scanner, and thus should make FDG imaging much more widely available, Henry N. Wagner, Jr., MD, professor of radiation health sciences at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, told Oncology News International.
Treatment Practices for Early Laryngeal Cancer Tend to Vary
October 1st 1997SAN FRANCISCO-Treatment practices often vary in the United States between physicians and across geographic regions, and such variation may be more likely when definitive comparisons of treatment modalities are lacking, as is the case with the management of early laryngeal carcinoma.
Camp for Children With Cancer Has Its 15th Anniversary
October 1st 1997IDYLLWILD, Calif-Actor Dustin Hoffman joined “Ronald McDonald,” the McDonald’s restaurant clown, and nearly 100 campers and their families in celebrating the 15th anniversary of Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times-one of the nation’s oldest and largest year-round recreational camping programs for children with cancer.
Foundation Sponsors National Lymphoma Awareness Week
October 1st 1997LOS ANGELES-The Lymphoma Research Foundation of America launched its second annual National Lymphoma Awareness Week on October 12. Actress Kelly Lynch, whose sister Robyn Lynch is a lymphoma survivor, served as honorary chair of the week, which featured a slate of events to inform the public about this cancer.
Center Sponsors Creative Workshops for Women With Cancer
October 1st 1997NEW YORK-A strong belief in the healing power of creative activity spurred Geraldine Herbert to establish a place where women with cancer could go to express themselves through the visual, performing, literary, and domestic arts-The Creative Center for Women With Cancer, located in New York City.
Kodak Oncology Imaging Film System Wins R&D 100 Award
October 1st 1997ROCHESTER, NY-The Eastman Kodak Company has been selected to receive the 1997 R&D 100 Award for its development of the Kodak EC-L film system for oncology imaging. The award-winning system provides high-contrast images for use in monitoring radiation treatment of cancer patients.
First US Trial of Green Tea in Cancer Patients Is Underway
October 1st 1997HOUSTON-The first clinical study in the United States of green tea as an anticancer agent is underway at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. If this trial and future studies show a benefit, the next step would be to get Americans to switch from their usual “black” tea to the Asian green variety, which has a milder flavor.