Faculty Bibliography

WHEN AIDS was first recognized in New York in 1981, it was not as a viral infection but as Kaposi's sarcoma, a rare type of cancer affecting the skin and internal organs. After realizing that AIDS was a new disease, doctors then noticed that two other unusual types of cancer -- non-Hodgkins lymphoma and primary lymphoma of the brain -- also occurred with unusual frequency among people with H.I.V., the AIDS virus. Because H.I.V. suppresses the immune system and most AIDS-related cancers are strongly associated with viruses, scientists saw in the tragedy of the AIDS epidemic an extraordinary opportunity to study the interplay of viruses, an impaired immune system and the development of cancer. In a way, AIDS research was an extension of the war on cancer that the Government declared in 1971. Researchers are broadening their understanding of the number and types of viruses that might play a role in cancer. Now, for example, there is increasing evidence of a link between Kaposi's sarcoma and a recently discovered herpes virus known as H.H.V.-8. Researchers also report an apparent decline in two types of AIDS-related cancers after the introduction of newer anti-H.I.V. combination drug therapy

For the first time, a drug has been shown to prevent breast cancer among women at high risk for the disease, a jubilant group of federal health officials said Monday. Women who took the drug, tamoxifen, had 45 percent fewer cases of breast cancer than a group of women who took a dummy pill or placebo. The drug helped all age groups in a large study, they said. The health officials said the study results are historic and may lead to development of drugs to prevent other cancers. But because tamoxifen also carries risks of life-threatening adverse effects, such as cancer of the uterus and blood clots that migrate to the lungs from veins in the legs, women were cautioned not to rush to demand the drug before statisticians and other experts do further analyses, so that doctors can interpret the findings for individual women

State health officials began an investigation and eventually determined that the most probable cause of Harry's death was an adverse reaction to use of a nonprescription drug phenylephrine, the same medication that is sold over the counter as Neo-Synephrine, which is used to relieve nasal congestion related to allergies and ear infections. Doctors used phenylephrine to control bleeding during the removal of the boy's adenoids. The reaction may have been due to its use with a beta blocker drug, which is commonly used to lower high blood pressure. The surgeon instructed a nurse to instill phenylephrine drops in the nose to help stop bleeding. Three minutes later the surgeon began to operate on the left ear. But Harry's blood pressure shot up. Surgery stopped while an anesthesiologist injected a drug to reduce the pressure. In another seven minutes, the ear surgery resumed

ATLANTA - In a major turnaround, the scientist who led the campaign that eradicated smallpox and eliminated the need for vaccination worldwide now says the United States should resume making the vaccine to deal with the threat of biological warfare. The scientist, Dr. Donald Henderson, a former deputy White House science adviser and dean emeritus of Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, spoke at an international meeting on new and emerging diseases Tuesday. U.S. 'ill-prepared' The United States is ill-prepared to confront a terrorist attack using biological weapons, and health officials need more money to prepare against such attacks, Henderson and other experts in infectious diseases said at the meeting, which was partly sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The speakers said their new concern reflected the Iraqi buildup of biological weapons, terrorism attacks in Japan, and a breakdown in security at Russia's advanced bioweapons center in Koltsovo near Novosibirsk

Stricter control of antibiotic use and more stringent prevention measures are needed to stop the growing and related problems of drug-resistant and hospital-acquired infections, experts said today at a scientific meeting here. Among the measures proposed were mandatory auditing of antibiotic use, controlling the prescription of such drugs, officially rebuking doctors who overuse them, enforcing hand-washing practices among hospital employees, improving quality control in laboratories, and intensifying public education about the hazards of antibiotics. A major concern is that two million Americans pick up infections in hospitals each year, the cost of which runs to an estimated $4.5 billion. Of these infections, 70 percent are due to microbes that are resistant to one or more antibiotics, and in 30 percent to 40 percent of the infections, the causative microbe is resistant to the first-line treatment drug, a recent study has found

State health officials began an investigation and eventually determined that the most probable cause of Harry's death was an adverse reaction to use of a nonprescription drug, phenylephrine, the same medication that is sold over the counter as Neo-Synephrine, which is used to relieve nasal congestion related to allergies and ear infections. Doctors used phenylephrine to control bleeding during the removal of the boy's adenoids. The reaction may have been due to its use with a beta blocker drug, which is commonly used to lower high blood pressure. Harry underwent the operation because repeated ear infections had left him with a hearing loss and a speech problem. After Harry underwent anesthesia and a breathing tube was inserted in his windpipe, a surgeon removed the adenoids without complication. The surgeon instructed a nurse to instill phenylephrine drops in the nose to help stop bleeding. Three minutes later the surgeon began to operate on the left ear. But Harry's blood pressure shot up. Surgery stopped while an anesthesiologist injected a drug to reduce the pressure. In another seven minutes, the ear surgery resumed. But because the event had a deadly consequence and use of phenylephrine is common, Dr. DeBuono went a step further. The commissioner appointed a panel of 10 specialists headed by Dr. Jacqueline E. Jones, who directs pediatric otolaryngology at New York Hospital, to determine the rarity of the reaction. The panel was also charged with clarifying a body of conflicting information about use in operating rooms of phenylephrine and other drugs, like cocaine, that constrict blood vessels

Concerned that an estimated 250,000 Americans do not know they are infected with the AIDS virus, Federal health officials yesterday urged wider use of blood tests, particularly of a little-used test that can provide results in an hour or less. The single rapid test that is available in the United States has not come into wide use, in part because of doctors' reservations about its interpretation and because of Federal guidelines that said test results should not be given until preliminary findings are confirmed. The only rapid test approved by the Food and Drug Administration and marketed in the United States is made by Murex Diagnostics Inc. of Norcross, Ga. Once the sample is prepared, the test can provide results in 10 minutes

For the first time, a drug has been shown to prevent breast cancer among women at high risk for the disease, a jubilant group of federal health officials said yesterday. Women who took the drug, tamoxifen, had 45 percent fewer cases of breast cancer than a group of women who took a dummy pill, or placebo. The drug helped all age groups in a large study, they said. The health officials called the study results historic and said they hoped they would lead to development of drugs to prevent other cancers. But because tamoxifen also carries risks of life-threatening adverse effects, such as cancer of the uterus, and blood clots that migrate to the lungs from veins in the legs, women were cautioned not to rush to demand the drug until statisticians and other experts do further analyses so that doctors can interpret the findings for individual women

Since 1996, the widespread use of combinations of new and older drugs has changed the face of AIDS, promising to transform a fatal infection to a manageable chronic disease. But for an unknown number of AIDS victims, the drugs are failing

The death of former Sen Paul E. Tsongas of Massachusetts on Jan 18, 1997 from complications of treatment for cancer recalls how important it is for candidates for elected office to make full disclosure of their medical information