OncoLink at ASCO 1999: Sunday, May 16

Ivor Benjamin, MD, far right, and the rest of The Group Room panel broadcast a live radio show from ASCO.

James Metz, MD explains his poster presentation, entitled "Analysis of Outcomes For High Risk Breast Cancer Patients Based on Interval From surgery To Postmastectomy Radiation Therapy" to an ASCO attendee.

Carboplatin/Paclitaxel Preferable to Cisplatin/Paclitaxel in Optimal Stage III Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Robert Ozols, M.D. from the Fox Chase Cancer Center presented data from the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) Protocol #158 a randomized Phase III clinical trial of cisplatin/paclitaxel versus carboplatin/paclitaxel in optimally surgically...
Cyclophosphamide/Cisplatin Possibly Preferable Preferable to 32P in Treament of Early High-Risk Ovarian Cancer Robert Young, M.D. from the Fox Chase Cancer Center presented the data from Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) Protocol #95 a randomized clinical trial of adjuvant treatment of early (Stage IA-IIA high-risk) ovarian cancer patients. The regimen of...
Federal Funding of Pap Smears Saves Lives After an intense lobbying effort, the federal government agreed in 1990 to fund Pap smear tests for elderly recipients of Medicare. Now, researchers conclude that the tests have remarkably reduced the rate of invasive cervical cancer for at-risk...
Hepatic Infusion Increases Survival and Reduces Liver Metastases from Colorectal Cancer when Combined with Chemotherapy Approximately 138,000 new cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed in the US every year. Eventually, 60% of these patients will develop liver metastasis but only a small percentage of these patients respond to systemic chemotherapy, a common...
Male Bone Density Decreases at a Steady Rate During Hormone-Suppressing Prostate Cancer Treatment The same bone loss seen in women who aren't producing estrogen is now being seen soon after men suppress testosterone and androgen production during prostate cancer therapy. These male hormones are known to stimulate the early growth of prostate...
Melanoma Patients Could be Spared Radical Surgery by Sentinel Node Mapping A technique called "sentinel node mapping" can accurately diagnose the minority of patients whose melanoma has spread, while saving the majority from radical lymph node dissection surgery, according to results of a five-year, multi-center study. ...
New Diabetes Drug Helps Cancer Cells Differentiate, Making them More Like Normal Cells Researchers in Boston have used a new diabetes drug to push cancer cells to mature, shifting them from rapidly dividing and dangerous undifferentiated cells to slower growing and less aggressive cells. The study is the first to demonstrate that...
Novel Immunotherapy Targets Her2-Positive Prostate Cancer A novel immunotherapy that directly links immune cells to Her2-positive prostate cancer cells shows the first documented responses to immunotherapy in prostate cancer. As in breast cancer, some prostate cancer cells produce excessive amounts of the...
Patients Self-Administer Protein in Nose Drops to Treat Kaposi's Sarcoma An anti-angiogenesis and immune-stimulating protein, delivered via nose drops, has resulted in a complete or major response in more than one-third of patients with late-stage Kaposi's Sarcoma (KS), an AIDS-related skin and body cancer which...
Pre-cancerous Prostate Lesions Indicate Increased Risk of Cancer Prostate lesions known as PIN (prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia) have generally been suspected to be precancerous by the prostate research community. However, little is known about the long-term significance of these lesions. Now a research team...
Prophylactic Mastectomy Satisfactory to Majority of Patients A recent study has found that the majority of women at increased risk for breast cancer who elected prophylactic mastectomy as a preventive measure were satisfied with the procedure. Marlene Frost, RN, PhD, and colleagues found that of women who...
Replacing P53 Gene in Prostate Cancer Helps Shrink Tumors A team of investigators from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, led by Dr. Christopher Logothetis, has demonstrated evidence that replacement of the p53 gene may shrink prostate cancers. The function of the p53 gene, which induces damaged cells...
Sequential Couplets of Cisplatin/Topotecan and Cisplatin/Paclitaxel as First-Line Therapy in Advanced Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Dr. P. Hoskins presented a Phase II trial of sequential couplets of cisplatin (DDP) and topotecan (TOP) and cisplatin and paclitaxel (T) as first-line therapy for advanced epithelial ovarian cancer on behalf of the National Cancer Institute of...
Smokers at Highest Risk of Developing Secondary Head and Neck Tumors Smokers are not only the most likely people to develop lung cancer, but also cancer of the head and neck. This study by the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center shows that they are also at highest risk of developing a secondary head and neck cancer --...
Tiny Radioactive Spheres Increase Survival and Reduce Liver Metastases When Combined with Chemotherapy Tiny radioactive spheres can reduce the size of liver metastases in patients and significantly increase survival, according to results of this phase III trial that tested the effect of adding a single dose of the spheres to chemotherapy delivered...

OncoLink I wish u knew...

Ms. Gambino talks about the complexity of cancer care and the need for patients and families to have help in navigating from diagnosis and treatment decisions to survivorship. Read more.

Cancer Types
Bone Cancer
Brain Tumors
Breast Cancer
Carcinoid Tumors
Endocrine System Cancers
Gastrointestinal Cancers
Gynecologic Cancers
Head and Neck Cancers
Leukemia
Lung Cancers
Lymphomas
Myelomas
Pediatric Cancers
Penile Cancer
Prostate Cancer
Sarcomas
Skin Cancers
Testicular Cancer
Thyroid Cancer
Urinary Tract Cancers
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