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SILVER SPRING, Md-The Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) recommended at its most recent meeting that the Food and Drug Administration approve one new anticancer agent and additional indications for two available agents. Complete reports on the panel’s three recommendations will appear in the next issue of Oncology News International.

Total-body irradiation (TBI), when given as part of bone marrow transplantation (BMT), works by enhancing immune suppression and by exerting a tumoricidal effect. The modality has been made less toxic because of new approaches to

The article by Drs. Grondin and Sugarbaker discussing the clinical management of malignant pleural mesothelioma provides an excellent overview but also highlights many of the controversies surrounding the diagnosis and treatment of this difficult

The use of alternative therapies among cancer patients has increased dramatically since the 1970s. A recent review of published surveys found that anywhere from 7% to 64% of adult cancer patients were using such therapies.[1] Preliminary

Grondin and Sugarbaker provide an excellent, thorough review of malignant pleural mesotheliomas. Nearly 3,000 new mesotheliomas will be diagnosed in the United States this year. On the positive side, epidemiologists estimate that workplace

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is cell-cycle specific for its cytotoxicity and has a pharmacokinetic profile characterized by a short, single-dose half-life of 10 to 20 minutes in plasma. Efforts to maximize its clinical efficacy have been

Oxaliplatin is a unique platinum compound with single-agent activity in both chemotherapy-naïve colorectal cancer patients and patients who progressed on 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). The combination of oxaliplatin and 5-FU

UFT (uracil and tegafur in a 4:1 molar ratio) plus calcium folinate treatment has favorable activity and tolerable toxicity in patients with advanced gastric carcinoma. High response rates have been reported in patients with

Many patients treat themselves with oral antioxidants and other alternative therapies during chemotherapy, frequently without advising their conventional health care provider. No definitive studies have demonstrated

Gemcitabine (Gemzar) (2-deoxy-2,2-difluorocytidine) is a new antimetabolite being increasingly used in the treatment of solid tumors. It is an analog of deoxycytidine and cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) (Figure 1) that has shown significant activity

Data from a multinational phase III trial were analyzed to evaluate the use of in- and outpatient services for 373 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer being administered uracil/tegafur (in a molar ratio of 4:1 [UFT]) plus

In recent years, due to the advent of sensitive instrumentation and methodologies, it has been possible to identify parameters that predict the quality of response of individual patients to treatments for specific selected diseases,

Fluorouracil (5-FU) is a relatively unique drug in oncology because administration in different doses and schedules results in dramatically different patterns of qualitative toxicity. In the 41 years 5-FU has been

Since cancer is incurable in many patients, palliation of symptoms and quality-of-life issues are important aspects of therapy. Uracil and tegafur (UFT) plus calcium folinate are the components of the oral agent known

Because most patients now want to know the truth about their diagnosis and prognosis, the ability to discuss the cancer diagnosis, disease recurrence, or treatment failure, and to solicit patients’ views about resuscitation

Two studies were carried out to determine the activity and evaluate the toxicity of oral chemotherapy with uracil and tegafur in a 4:1 molar ratio (UFT) plus or minus calcium folinate in elderly patients with advanced colorectal

As mental health professionals become integral members of the treatment team in many oncology settings,[1] we often find ourselves itching to guide and comfort our medical colleagues instead of our patients. Sometimes we have to intervene

NEW YORK-Because it is so well known that opioids are most effective for nociceptive pain, they are often ignored when patients present with neuropathic pain. But opioids are at least as effective as current agents used for neuropathic pain, Richard Payne, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, said at the Third Conference on Pain Management and Chemical Dependency.

ALEXANDRIA, Va-Successfully marketing a cancer program requires careful targeting of a campaign to fit the particular characteristics of the local market, the competition, the patient base, and the center itself, said a panel of oncology executives representing institutions covering the gamut of size, location, and involvement in managed care.

For many leukemia sufferers, bone marrow transplantation is their only hope. Unfortunately, for about 40% of patients with terminal disease, a perfectly matched donor cannot be found

SAN FRANCISCO-Patients’ use of alternative (or complementary) medicine poses real difficulty for many physicians today. Patients often query their doctors about alternative medicine, asking for evaluations of different therapies, such as acupuncture.

SAN FRANCISCO -As alternative (or complementary) medicine becomes more popular, physicians are starting to face troubling questions about their liability for patients’ use of these therapies. But unfortunately, physicians may not be informed about the potential efficacy of these therapies or their safety, Lisa A. Vincler, JD, Assistant Attorney General at the University of Washington Health Sciences and Medical Center, said at the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists annual meeting in February 1999.

MIAMI BEACH-Being a good doctor with a good reputation for delivering quality care should be enough to get all the patient referrals a physician needs. Right? “Wrong,” Dr. Eric Berkowitz said at the Network for Oncology Communication and Research (NOCR) meeting. “You’re no big deal; there are thousands like you,” he said.

ALEXANDRIA, Va-“From the graveyard of dead biologic agents that over the last decade have failed to deliver on their apparent promise of large clinical benefits will rise new generations of therapeutics much more powerful than those presently available,” said David Parkinson, MD, vice president for clinical research, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, East Hanover, NJ.

NEW YORK-“Nuclear medicine is one of the best kept secrets of medicine today,” said Stanley J. Goldsmith, MD, director, Division of Nuclear Medicine, New York Presbyterian Hospital. In a talk at a nuclear oncology conference sponsored by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Dr. Goldsmith specifically referred to the use of radionuclides to treat metastatic bone pain.

ORLANDO-Surgery remains the mainstay of treatment for familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and for hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), also known as the Lynch syndrome, David Ota, MD, said at the Society of Surgical Oncology’s 52nd Annual Cancer Symposium. Dr. Ota is professor of surgery, University of Missouri Ellis Fischel Cancer Center, Columbia.

SAN FRANCISCO-Women infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are at increased risk for cervical abnormalities, including cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), and these problems may not be eradicated by conventional approaches such as conization.

BETHESDA, Md-The newest version of “Guidelines for the Use of Antiretroviral Agents in HIV-Infected Adults and Adolescents” is now available on the Internet at www.hivatis.org. The update includes recommendations about the use of Ziagen (abacavir), which can be given in combination with Retrovir (zidovudine) and Epivir (lamivudine). All three drugs are nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors.

ALEXANDRIA, Va-Whether a cancer practice is designated as provider-based or free-standing can significantly affect the amounts it receives in Medicare reimbursements. Provider-based entities, such as departments in hospitals, are often entitled to higher payments for a given service than are free-standing entities such as physicians’ offices.

Citing the unprecedented opportunity granted by last year’s 15% increase in biomedical research funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Joseph S. Bailes, MD, then president-elect of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO),