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Breast and colorectal cancers were chosen because consensus for their care is greater than for other major cancers, said Dr. Deborah Kamin, the oncologist group's director of public policy. The three cities were chosen to provide a representative look at how different minority populations are treated. The study may be expanded to other cities to include 2,000 patients and possibly lung cancer if an additional $1 million is obtained, Kamin said in an interview. The oncology group's president, Dr. Joseph Bailes, who practices in Houston, said the effort was a response to a report released in April 1999 by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. In addressing issues in the prevention, control, diagnosis, treatment and palliation of cancer, the institute said that there was 'a growing lack of public confidence' in the nation's system of fragmented cancer care

Responding to a call to improve the quality of cancer care in the United States, a leading cancer organization said yesterday that it was working with other groups to develop a national system to monitor how well each cancer patient is treated. The first phase will be conducted in Cleveland, Houston and Los Angeles and will involve 300 people with breast cancer and an additional 300 with cancer of the colon and rectum, the study's leaders said at the opening of a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncologists, the leading group of cancer specialists in the United States. The ultimate goal is to develop specific measures of quality spanning the entire course of care, from diagnosis to cure or death. Such measures could then be used to hold health-care providers accountable for the quality of cancer care. An estimated 1.2 million Americans will develop cancer this year. Cancer is second to heart disease as a cause of death among Americans and is one of the most expensive diseases to treat

The effort will begin this summer when researchers from Harvard University and Rand Corp. begin examining the medical records of 600 patients to determine their outcomes from two types of cancer. The first phase will be conducted in Cleveland, Houston and Los Angeles and will involve 300 people with breast cancer and 300 with cancer of the colon and rectum, the study's leaders said at the opening of a meeting here of the American Society of Clinical Oncologists, the leading group of cancer specialists in the United States. Breast and colorectal cancers were chosen because consensus for their care is greater than for other major cancers, said Dr. Deborah Kamin, the oncologist group's director of public policy

* By 2010, the genome will help identify people at highest risk of particular diseases. In cancer, for example, genetic tests will identify those at highest risk for lung cancer from smoking. Genetic tests for colon cancer will narrow colonoscopy screening to people who need it most. Additional genetic tests would guide treatment of breast and ovarian cancer

The Argentine and the United States governments apparently have not officially confirmed that [Eva Peron] had cervical cancer or that Dr. Pack performed the operation without her knowledge. State Department officials and the Argentine Embassy in Washington said they had no knowledge about Eva's case because it occurred so long ago. Dr. [Barron H. Lerner] said he did not try to examine Eva's medical records or government records. Eva's medical ordeal began in January 1950 when she was 30. She fainted and underwent an appendectomy. Despite persistent weakness and anemia from vaginal bleeding, she delayed further tests. In August 1951, Eva, much weaker, developed increasingly severe abdominal pain and fainted again. A physical showed she had advanced cancer of the cervix, and Argentine doctors treated her with radium, then a standard therapy. At the time, the Argentine government declined to disclose the nature of Eva's illness. Press reports gave conflicting views as to whether she had cancer. President Peron was re-elected while Eva recuperated from surgery. Later, she resumed limited political activities. But when the abdominal pain returned in February 1952, Argentine doctors confirmed, again without telling Eva, that the cancer had recurred with striking rapidity

Peron was re-elected while Eva recuperated. Later, she resumed limited political activities. But when the abdominal pain returned in February, 1952, Argentine doctors confirmed, again without telling Eva, that the cancer had recurred very quickly. In lifting Eva's medical story from obscurity and reporting it in the June 3 issue of The Lancet, Barron Lerner, a medical historian and ethicist at Columbia University, has added new information to an earlier biography of Eva and a small number of articles about her illness in Argentine newspapers and medical journals

When [EVA PERON], the first lady of Argentina, underwent a hysterectomy in November 1951, she did not know that her husband, [Juan Peron], had summoned a Manhattan cancer surgeon to perform the procedure. The surgeon, Dr. George Pack, flew to Buenos Aires, entered the operating room after Eva was anesthetized, and left before she awoke. Eva's medical ordeal began in January 1950 when she was 30. She fainted and underwent an appendectomy. Despite persistent weakness and anemia from vaginal bleeding, she delayed further tests. In August 1951, Eva, much weaker, developed increasingly severe abdominal pain and fainted again. A physical showed she had advanced cancer of the cervix, and Argentine doctors treated her with radium, then a standard therapy. At the time, the Argentine government declined to disclose the nature of Eva's illness. Press reports gave conflicting views as to whether she had cancer. Peron was re-elected while Eva recuperated from surgery. Later, she resumed limited political activities. But when the abdominal pain returned in February 1952, Argentine doctors confirmed, again without telling Eva, that the cancer had recurred with striking rapidity

When [Eva Peron], the first lady of Argentina, underwent a hysterectomy in November 1951, she did not know that her husband, [Juan Peron], had summoned a Manhattan cancer surgeon to perform the procedure. The surgeon, Dr. George Pack, flew to Buenos Aires, entered the operating room after Eva was anesthetized and left before she awoke. The Argentine and the U.S. governments apparently have not officially confirmed that Eva Peron had cervical cancer or that Pack performed the operation without her knowledge. State Department officials and the Argentine Embassy in Washington said they had no knowledge about Eva's case because it occurred so long ago. [Barron Lerner] said he did not try to examine Eva's medical records or government records. At the time, the Argentine government declined to disclose the nature of Eva's illness. Press reports gave conflicting views as to whether she had cancer. Peron was re-elected while Eva recuperated from surgery. Later, she resumed limited political activities. But when the abdominal pain returned in February 1952, Argentine doctors confirmed, again without telling Eva, that the cancer had recurred with striking rapidity

In disclosing the surprising development, the officials told clinics, hospitals and other providers of health care to delay mass influenza immunization campaigns for at least a month later than planned and to make provisions to immunize people at highest risk first. Preparations are now under way for the immunizations, which are usually conducted from October through mid-November. The delay was attributed in part to difficulty in growing in the laboratory two new influenza strains in this year's vaccine. Studies have shown influenza vaccine to be 70 percent to 90 percent effective in preventing illness among healthy young men, and less effective among older people and those with chronic ailments. But the vaccine is effective in reducing influenza-related hospitalizations and deaths among older adults. Because the influenza virus mutates, the vaccine is altered each year to account for the strains expected to circulate during the season. This year, as usual, the vaccine protects against three strains. The two new ones are A/Panama and A/New Caledonia; the third, B/Yamanashi, was in last year's vaccine

The Ebola virus, which has caused deaths from high fever and bleeding in African outbreaks, also can infect without producing illness, according to a new finding by African and European scientists. Leroy's team said another public health concern was transmission of Ebola virus from healthy carriers through sex. Other scientists have detected Ebola in semen. Illness often begins abruptly, from five to 10 days after exposure to Ebola virus, with symptoms like fever, headache, vomiting and diarrhea. Then bleeding can occur internally or ooze from needle sites and through the nose and mouth. Death usually occurs from five to seven days after the onset of illness