A Better Way to Eradicate Cancer

Proton beams originally designed for use in nuclear physics research have proven effective in curing several types of cancer while leaving surrounding tissues unharmed, three groups reported Wednesday at a meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago. Produced by particle accelerators called cyclotrons or synchrotrons, proton beams have produced better results than conventional radiation treatment against advanced cancers of the prostate, bone and eye, they said.

The advantage of the technology over conventional radiation is its accuracy. A study of 645 men with prostate cancer at Loma Linda University found proton beam therapy was as effective as surgical removal of the prostate in curing the cancers four years after treatment. And only a few patients who underwent proton beam therapy suffered incontinence, compared with 40% of those who underwent the surgery.

Proton beam treatment of a type of cancer that attacks the base of the skull was effective for 92% of 180 patients, compared with about half of patients treated with standard radiation therapy, doctors at three Massachusetts facilities said. And in 2,100 patients with uveal melanoma--cancer of the eye--local control of the disease was achieved in 96% of patients, and the overall results were equivalent to patients whose cancerous eyes were surgically removed, researchers said.

Scientists Get to Root of ‘Fish-Odor Syndrome’

Two competing teams of scientists have identified genetic defects that cause “fish-odor syndrome,” a disease that makes people smell like rotting fish. No cure is known for fish-odor syndrome, although avoiding certain foods and taking antibiotics can help. The new work might lead to better therapies, researchers said.

It’s not clear how common fish-odor syndrome is. It is mentioned in some ancient literature and caught the attention of Shakespeare, who in “The Tempest” describes a character with “a very ancient and fish-like smell.”

The newly found defects, reported in the December Nature Genetics, sabotage production of effective forms of an enzyme called FMO3. The liver needs that enzyme to process a smelly protein called TMA or trimethylamine, which is produced by bacteria in the gut. When TMA goes unprocessed, it seeps out in a person’s breath and perspiration, causing the offensive body odor.

Visit to Family Doctor Good for Mental Health

A short series of 50-minute visits to a compassionate general practitioner are as effective as similar visits to a psychotherapist for treating mild emotional disorders, mainly depression, British researchers say. Brief psychotherapy, which generally consists of one to 12 visits, is increasingly used for such mild disorders.

According to a report in the Dec. 6 Lancet, researchers from London’s Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine studied 70 patients treated by a therapist and 66 treated by a GP. All 136 improved significantly from the therapy, and outcomes for the two groups were virtually identical. Those assigned to the psychotherapists, however, were more satisfied with the help they received.

Inhaled Steroids Do Ease the Wheezing

A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine confirms that inhaled steroids, long a mainstay of asthma treatment, are the most effective medicine for youngsters with persistent cases of the disease. The Canadian study compared a generic form of the steroid beclomethasone with a newer medication, Serevant.

The study found that the steroid did a better job on all measures of asthma control, although it somewhat stunted youngsters’ growth, a widely recognized hazard of steroids. Serevant, or salmeterol, is the first of a new class of medications known as long-acting beta-2-agonists. While widely used in adults, researchers said the drug’s role in treating children has not been well established.

Fewer L.A. AIDS Cases, Except Among Minorities

In the first half of 1997, the number of reported AIDS cases in Los Angeles County fell by a third compared to last year and the number of deaths fell by 56%, but the rate of cases in communities of color rose, said Dr. Peter R. Kerndt, director of the HIV Epidemiology Program for the county Department of Health Services. “In 1985, African Americans and Latinos accounted for 28% of reported AIDS cases. By 1996, these two populations accounted for 54% of all reported AIDS cases,” he said.

He said that in 1996:

* The AIDS rate among black women was six times higher than the rate among white women, and three times higher than the rate among Latinas.

* Among black men, the AIDS rate was two times higher than the rate among white men, and nearly three times higher than among Latino men.

--Compiled by THOMAS H. MAUGH II