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International
INTERNATIONAL
TThe London Free
Press
Toronto Globe and Mail
Xinhua English Newswire
Winnepeg Free Press
USA Today
The New York Times
Chicago Tribune
San Diego Union-Tribune
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Palm Beach Post
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San Francisco Examiner
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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The Associated Press
WTXF-TV29 (Ten O’Clock News)
"Science is not a sacred cow. Science is a horse.
Don’t worship it. Feed it.” --Aubrey Eben
Pioneering Cancer
Researchers Take Top Award
“I’ve been extraordinarily lucky, and it’s been a very enjoyable and satisfying career.” That’s how Peter C. Nowell, MD, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, describes a career that has yielded some of the most important discoveries in cancer research.
In the 1950s, he showed that bone marrow from healthy mice was therapeutic when implanted in mice bombarded with deadly radiation. That led to the development of bone-marrow transplant procedures now used to treat numerous cancers.
In 1960, working with the late David Hungerford, MD, Nowell shattered the widespread belief that cancer had no genetic basis. He produced the first evidence that abnormal chromosomes can cause cancer, observing that patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia had an abnormally small chromosome—dubbed the “Philadelphia chromosome”—in all their cancerous white blood cells. “We were just fooling around and we were lucky,” Nowell told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
One of Nowell’s most recent discoveries was that a bean extract can cause white blood cells to divide in a lab dish. The breakthrough revolutionized the process of studying chromosomes and cell growth and led to advances in understanding normal and abnormal function of immune-system cells. “Again, it was a purely serendipitous thing,” he said.
Nowell, 70, doesn’t need to sing his own praises; others are more than willing. The latest takers: the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation. On September 20, Nowell was named as one of six scientists worldwide whose findings and subsequent research “are helping to shape the design of future cancer therapies.” The Albert Lasker Medical Research Awards are often called America’s Nobels because 59 Lasker recipients have gone on to receive Nobel Prizes in Sweden.
The awardees included Alfred G. Knudson Jr., adjunct
professor of human genetics and pediatrics, who is known for
a “two-hit” hypothesis on the origin of cancer,
based on an analysis of retinoblastoma, a tumor that occurs
in both hereditary and non-hereditary form. He hypothesized
that some genes’ normal role in life is to behave as
anti-cancer or tumor-suppressor genes that keep cell
division under healthy control. In 1976, his mathematically
based hypothesis was proved when he and others showed that
some patients with hereditary retinoblastoma are missing a
segment of Chromosome 13 in all of their cells.
Reports began on September 20.
The Toronto Sun
The Edmonton Sun
The San Diego Union-Tribune
Times Union (Albany, NY)
The Capital Times
The Columbian
Chicago Tribune
The Seattle Times
Omaha World-Herald
Lancaster News Era
York Daily Record
Los Angeles Times
The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ)
Anchorage Daily News
The Detroit News
The Denver Post
The ‘Window of Opportunity’ Pill
On September 2, the FDA approved the first-ever sales and marketing of a kit of emergency contraceptive pills, called PREVEN, that women can take the morning after unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy.
“Every sexually active woman should have this kit in her medicine cabinet, and it should be in every college health clinic, rape counseling center, and hospital emergency room,” Arthur L. Caplan, PhD, director of Penn’s Center for Bioethics, told The Los Angeles Times.
Caplan, who served as an unpaid consultant to Gynetics Inc., the Sommerville, N.J., company that won first approval, called the product “one of the most significant moral advances in reproductive technology in the United States” because of the “crucial distinction” between it and such products as RU-486—which is awaiting FDA approval—that disrupt a pregnancy after fertilization. (The morning-after pills will not work on a woman who already is pregnant.)
“However one views abortion,” said Caplan, “the prevention of pregnancy is ethically better than ending a pregnancy.”
Two pills are taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, followed by another two pills taken 12 hours later. The treatment is about 75 percent effective in preventing pregnancy, the FDA said. The most commonly reported side effects are nausea and vomiting, which can last for a few hours or several days, the agency said. The kits also contain a pregnancy test to ensure that a woman is not already pregnant.
Products designed to be used as morning-after pills have
been widely available across most of Europe for 14 years.
Wrote Caplan in an editorial in The San Diego Union-Tribune:
“The delay suggests we are spending too much time
worrying about the sex lives of presidents and celebrities
and not nearly enough talking about what we can do to
promote responsibility and safety in our own sex
lives.”
Reports began September 2.
NATIONAL
The New York Times
NBC Nightly News
MSNBC (The News with Brian Williams)
Chicago Tribune
The Orange County Register
The Seattle Times
The Dallas Morning News
The Cincinnati Enquirer
You can open all the windows, crank up the heavy metal, and chat on a cell phone, but if you’re driving and sleepy, these interventions just won’t cut it for long. It’s time to pull over.
A two-year survey of 283 sleep researchers and transportation safety experts debunked a variety of folk remedies, including driving with one shoe off, playing mind games, or eating sugary snacks. David Dinges, PhD, professor of psychiatry, led the study. His suggestion: A nap, even for as little as 20 minutes, could provide an hour or more of alert driving time afterward. Caffeine can help for a short time and so can exercise, said Dinges, suggesting two minutes of running in place or jumping jacks at a rest stop. “But there is no substitute for sleep and sensible trip planning.”
If you’re experiencing the symptoms (involuntary eye
closing, yawning, feeling tired, inability to stay in lane)
you may be facing a “sudden, uncontrolled sleep
attack,” Dinges told the Chicago Tribune. “You
need to get off the road right away.”
Reports began September 2.
Portland Oregonian
Psychology Today
Never Mind, It’s a Gender Thing
Research in neuroscience is revealing myriad differences between men’s and women’s brains, including size, structure, and sensibility. Much of the brain power has been generated at the laboratories of Raquel Gur, MD, PhD, and Ruben Gur, MD, professors of psychiatry.
Most recently, they discovered that the female brain responds more intensely to emotion. The Gurs scanned the brains of volunteers looking at photographs of actors depicting various emotions. Both sexes knew happiness when they saw it, but the men had a harder time recognizing sadness, especially in women. “A woman’s face had to be really sad for a man to see it,” Ruben Gur told the Portland Oregonian. “The subtle expressions went right by them, even though their brains were working a lot harder to figure it out. When it comes to reading emotion, men just don’t get it.”
In another study, they studied PET scans of relaxed patients. Most male brains “idle” in an evolutionarily ancient region of the brain—one that gives rise to aggression and violence—while the resting female brains activate a newer region related to processing symbolic forms of expression, such as gestures and words. “This difference may explain why men are more prone to physical action, while women opt for verbal tactics,” said Ruben Gur. “Beating somebody up comes from the old limbic brain. Saying ‘I’m angry with you’ comes from the new limbic.”
The rate at which the brain ages is also different among men and women. The male brain—generally 10 to 15 percent larger than a female brain—loses tissue at almost three times the rate of the female brain, according to Gurs’ studies of men and women at various ages. The reason: Women adjust to a slower metabolism as they age, while men go on ahead full steam. “Women seem to be able to reduce the rate of neuronal activity in proportion to the tissue that they lose, whereas men continue to overdrive their neurons,” said Ruben Gur. “Even though women too lose tissue as they age, they seem to be riding herd on what’s left.”
So . . . which brain’s better? In most tests, said
Ruben Gur, men and women perform more or less equally, they
just take different routes to arrive at the same answers.
“The fact that male and female brains do things
differently may be why our species survived,” he said.
“It makes more evolutionary sense to have two different
angles on reality.”
Reports began September 1.
Philadelphia Daily
News
NBC’s The Today Show
Breast Cancer Drug
Ready for Prime Time
Oncologist Angela DeMichele, MD, heads the trials of the drug Herceptin at the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center. “I feel so privileged to be a part of this,” she told the Philadelphia Daily News. “So many times your hands are tied. You want to help but don’t have the tools. This has the potential to be a very useful tool.”
The new drug targets one kind of aggressive breast cancer—tumors fueled by a bad gene called Her2/neu. About 25 percent of the 185,000 women who are diagnosed each year suffer from this particularly aggressive form, which spreads to the bones, lungs, or liver. In clinical trials, the drug was tested on women whose cancer had progressed to the point where it was not responding to the best chemotherapy, said DeMichele. It was successful in killing the cancer cells and shrinking tumors in 15 percent of those women. “Fifteen percent may not sound like a lot,” said DeMichele. “But breast cancer is so common that a small percentage represents many women.”
The major advantage of the drug is that it attacks the
cancer at its genetic roots, and doesn’t subject
patients to the toxicity of chemotherapy. Instead, it works
by disabling Her2/neu, which acts as a receptor to growth
factors on the surface of cancerous cells. By blocking the
growth factors, Herceptin kills off the cancer cells.
“This is a novel way of attacking a cancer cell,
hopefully treating only the cancer cells and sparing normal
cells,” explained Lynn M. Schuchter, MD, associate
professor of medicine, on NBC’s Today Show.
“It’s not a cure for breast cancer, but it
certainly is a completely new way of treating and gives us
more options for women with breast cancer.” Schuchter
expects the drug to become available by next spring.
Reports began September 2.
LOCAL
Philadelphia Daily News
“I hear that the dye they use for a heart catheterization or an angioplasty is dangerous. If you’re allergic to it, can it kill you?” For the answer, the Philadelphia Daily News went to Michael S. Parmacek, MD, associate professor of medicine and chief of the cardiovascular division. The question and answer comprised the paper’s “Bod Squad” column.
Basically, there’s no need to worry, said Parmacek. If there is a reaction, “there’s nothing we don’t have at our disposal to reverse it.” Once an allergic reaction is diagnosed, it is “100 percent treatable and reversible if treated immediately.”
Parmacek says it’s unlikely a patient would experience such a reaction in the first place. Those suspected of being allergic to the dye—patients with allergies to shellfish, for instance—get an allergy test beforehand. Patients who are allergic are given antihistamines and steroids to counteract allergic symptoms. The dye (a clear solution) shows up white on X-rays, allowing doctors a view of a patient’s bloodstream during catheterizations. The same dye is used to spot blockages before angiographies.
Parmacek added that it’s a good policy to talk
straight with your doctor: If you have allergies or kidney
problems (the kidneys may also be disturbed by the dye),
always let your doctor know.
Printed September 2.
Perspectives
“It’s incredible to me. The first time we injected the cells into a rat . . . was only about five years ago.”--Virginia M.Y-Lee, PhD, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine “Brave New Body: From Skin to Bone to Liver, Researchers Are Using Live Cells to Engineer Live Parts” The Washington Post, 8/25
“Teenagers nowadays seem to have a fear that if they’re not completely successful, they’ll be failures. If you’re fine in four out of five categories, then you strive to be fine in five out of five categories.”--Anthony L. Rostain, MD, associate professor of psychiatry “Breast Implants for Teens Are More Common–and controversial” Philadelphia Daily News, 9/1
“The last time I looked, sex is not a disease.”--Arthur L. Caplan, PhD, director of Penn’s Center for Bioethics “Va. Clinic Develops System for Choosing Sex of Babies” The Washington Post, 9/10
“Professors are basically frustrated stand-up comedians. If my students don’t laugh, they don’t pass.”--Peter C. Nowell, MD, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine “Two Phila. Cancer Scientists Win Lasker Award” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/20
“It’s a good way to have people stare at you at the gym, which is 70 percent of the reason most people are there anyway.”--Joseph Bernstein, MD, sports medicine “Exercisers Beat Boredom with ‘Backward’ Workouts” Atlanta Constitution, 8/4
“Schizophrenia is arguably the most terrible illness that’s ever affected humanity.”--Richard G. Petty, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry
[Subject: The Capitol Hill shooter] The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, 9/8
“Our patients almost always cast their drug experiences in sexual terms—‘It’s like an orgasm times 1,000 or orgasm in every molecule of my body.’ We want to see if the brain pictures look similar.”--Anna Rose Childress, PhD, clinical associate professor of psychology in psychiatry “Scientists Get a Clearer Picture of Desire with New Head Scans” Newsday, 9/8
Snips & Clips
LABEL IT ‘SAFE’. . . Pravachol, a drug that reduces the risk of heart attack in patients with or without coronary conditions, has won approval from the FDA for expanded labeling touting the drug’s safety. Other medications in the same class as Pravachol have been shown to interact with such commonly prescribed drugs as Prozac and Viagra. “The issue of interactions between medications, whether taken in combination with other drugs or certain foods, has become increasingly important,” Daniel J. Rader, MD, director of the cardiac risk intervention program and assistant professor of medicine, told the Medical Herald. “This new labeling provides both physicians and patients with significant information about Pravachol.” Printed in the August issue.
BEST OUT OF THREE. . . Several drugs can bring some relief to patients experiencing the debilitating effects of multiple sclerosis. “Copaxone is probably the easiest to take of the three drugs available,” said Amy Pruitt, MD, assistant professor of neurology, in Atlantic City’s Press. “There are fewer side effects, but it is an everyday injection, so there has to be a commitment.” Alternatives to Copaxone are Betaseron and Avonex. “People need to speak to their own physicians about which is most appropriate,” said Pruitt. Printed August 15.
NOW AND LATER. . . A Penn study found that patients who received pain medication before and after a major surgery (in this case, prostate surgery) reported 33 percent less pain during their post-op hospital stay, compared to those who received a painkiller only after the surgery. Several weeks later, 86 percent of those who received a painkiller prior to surgery reported being pain free, compared to 47 percent in the other group. David Smith, MD, PhD, associate professor of anesthesia, told Working Mother magazine why it works: “Most forms of preemptive analgesia block pain impulses from reaching the brain and spinal cord and heightening the body’s sensitivity, so patients feel less pain after the surgery and recover faster.” Printed in the October issue.
HOLY AFFILIATION!. . . The Health System recently announced an affiliation agreement with five Catholic Health Initiatives hospitals, as reported in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Catholic Health Initiatives is the sixth-largest health network in the country, with 68 hospitals, more than 50 long-term care facilities, and elder-care and housing services in 22 states. Participating in the affiliation are: Nazareth Hospital, Philadelphia; St. Agnes Hospital, Philadelphia; St. Joseph Hospital, Lancaster; St. Joseph Medical Center, Reading; and St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne. “This gives us a 20 percent market share in the region as a system,” said William N. Kelley, MD, CEO of the Health System and dean of the School of Medicine. Printed September 10.
WHAT’S GOING ON?. . . In the wake of recent school shootings, some psychiatrists are wondering if the media’s detailed coverage of past shootings encourages copy-cat behavior. Lois Talbot Flaherty, MD, clinical associate professor of psychiatry, says that violence in the media and a ready supply of guns contribute to these tragedies. Another problem is the failure to provide troubled youth with counseling and other appropriate services. “The bottom line is that these kids can be identified, so what’s needed is better identification and coordinated efforts between the school and the community, including the mental health profession, criminal justice, and the police,” she told Psychiatry Times. Printed in the July issue.
IN A NUTSHELL. . . To get the facts on genetic testing for breast cancer, Marie Claire magazine sought out Jill Stopfer, MS, genetics counselor and familial cancer coordinator at Penn’s Cancer Center. Breast cancer gene mutations are considered rare, explained Stopfer, and are estimated to be the cause of only 5 percent to 10 percent of breast cancers. “The tests are generally offered when there’s a 10 to 12 percent chance of finding a mutation,” she said. “A cancer geneticist analyzes family history to determine that chance, looking for multiple relatives with breast and/or ovarian cancer, women diagnosed premenopausally, women with more than one primary cancer, or a family history of cancer affecting multiple generations.” Printed in the September issue.
GOOD COMPANY. . . HUP ranked high in 13 specialties in U.S. News & World Report’s annual issue of “America’s Best Hospitals,” earning HUP a place on the magazine’s Honor Roll. HUP placed first among hospitals in the Delaware Valley and 11th nationally, while Children’s Hospital placed second in the nation for pediatrics. David Shulkin, MD, chief medical officer and chief quality officer for the Health System, told the Philadelphia Tribune that he was pleased with not only HUP’s ranking but also with those of other area hospitals that placed high in certain specialties, including Thomas Jefferson and Temple university hospitals. “We’re actually interested in working with the other hospitals in making Philadelphia a number one destination for health care around the country and around the world.” Printed August 4.
WHAT ABOUT DUMB JOCKS?. . . Can regular exercise sharpen your mind? Recent studies indicate that exercise may reduce the risk of depression and anxiety. Researchers are also exploring whether regular physical activity can improve mental acuity. “There is little data about rigorous exercise and cognitive performance,” Christopher Clark, MD, assistant professor of neurology told the Chicago Tribune. “My own opinion is that physical activity in any form is good for brain maintenance. It almost makes so much common sense that you wonder why it even needed to be studied.” Printed August 20.
TAKE IT TO THE HILL. . . To promote the Republican Party’s plan for managed care reform, Senator Rick Santorum visited HUP, where he learned firsthand how reimbursement denials and delays are affecting hospitals. “Our biggest concern is not getting paid [at all] or not getting paid in a timely manner, which really exacerbates the cost of care,” Thomas Beeman, UPHS senior vice president for hospital operations, told WTXF-TV’s Fox Ten O’Clock News. Edward Stadtmauer, MD, associate professor of medicine and director of the oncology study unit, noted that narrow margins mean less money to invest in high-tech treatments. Aired August 11.
CHANGE VIEW OF ‘THE CHANGE’. . . Menopause may be getting more media attention that it deserves, says Michelle Battistini, MD, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and director of Penn Health for Women. “It’s only an endocrinological event,”she told the Jewish Exponent. “But it’s become a landmark phase in a woman’s life.” Instead of focusing on hormonal changes, women should think about their overall health, considering their psycho-social wellness and any risk factors for disease, such as smoking or a history of breast cancer. “The point of all this is to help a woman live as long as she can, and as well as she can.” Printed July 23.
LOOK WHO’S FLUSHING. . . Parents whose toddlers haven’t mastered the art of using the toilet are in good company, according to a study by Bruce Taubman, MD, clinical associate professor of pediatrics. In a study of about 500 toddlers, Taubman found that only 4 percent of children were toilet-trained by age 2. While 88 percent were trained by age 3½, about 2 percent of the children were still not trained at age 4. Taubman thinks the study should reassure parents whose children are slow to toilet train. “It helps keep things in perspective,” he told Cleveland’s Plain Dealer. Printed July 11.
TRY A HAT. . . Propecia, the only pill approved to treat male pattern baldness, has been on the market for about 10 months. While the drug can prevent additional hair loss in newly balding men, it’s unlikely to help those who have already lost a lot of hair. “If your goal is to regrow hair, you’re probably going to be disappointed,” said George Cotsarelis, MD, director of the hair and scalp clinic and assistant professor of dermatology, in Men’s Health magazine. While Propecia has not proved to be the miracle cure for baldness, there’s no harm in taking it until a better drug comes along, says Cotsarelis. “The 10-year data on [Propecia] show it’s very safe. My hope is there will be a better treatment soon.” Printed in the September issue.
DON’T POINT THAT AT ME. . . The laser pointer is not just for presentations anymore. Originally designed for business people, the gadget has reached a new group of consumers: children and teens. While some youngsters are using the pointers for relatively harmless purposes—such as pretending to wield “light sabers” like the characters in Star Wars—others are harming themselves (and, in some cases, others) by shining the beam directly into the eyes. “I have seen a couple cases of children who have stared directly at these laser pointers for a prolonged period of time,” Allen Ho, MD, assistant professor of ophthalmology, told the New York Daily News. “Other kids are torturing kids by holding them down and shining them in their eyes.” Printed September 6.
SALEMS = SIN?. . . Smokers trying to quit face a difficult battle, and not just because of their nicotine addiction, according to the Sunday Tribune-Democrat in Johnstown. Family, friends, and co-workers who have never smoked may not be supportive, and both private and public insurance companies have been reluctant to pay for smoking-cessation programs, despite studies proving the programs’ cost-effectiveness. “The demonization of smokers is one of the most remarkable ethical changes in American society in the 20th century,” said Arthur L. Caplan, PhD, director of Penn’s Center for Bioethics. “It has transformed what was once a bad habit into an outright sin.” Printed August 9.
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October 1998 George Beschen, Editor Marion Wyce, Assistant Editor Administration: Lori Doyle, Chief Public Affairs Officer Rebecca Harmon, Director of Media Relations Jacquelin Sufak, Director of Internal
Communications Media Review is published monthly by the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center’s Department of Public Affairs to keep the faculty and administration aware of recent Penn-specific media highlights. To make comments, e-mail beschen@mail.med.upenn.edu or write to Editor, Media Review, 218 Blockley Hall, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4283. |
