European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 6, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday june 6, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 9 health & science be interferon of d for cancer treatment Washington a interferon a so called Mir Acle drag of the late 1970s thai delivered Marc disappointment than miracles wednesday was approved for use against a rare bul deadly form of cancer. Officials of the . Food and drug adminis Lvalion saying the action marked a new age of Medicine approved a form of Alpha in Creeron one of More than 15 possible variations for use against a cancer known As hairy cell leukaemia. The announcement also Means interfere discovered in London in 1957. Now is available for . Physicians to prescribe for cancer patients whether their cancer is hairy cell leukaemia or not. Officials said icy understood approval was also occur ring in some european countries and Canada but had no details. The approval for hairy cell leukaemia does not restrict Bow doctors choose to use the Medicine. The Fra regards such decisions As the practice of Medicine beyond the scope of drug regulation. Trim the approval could open to door to All cancer patients including those seeking a last Chance to beat the Odds for cancers that have not responded to Alpha Ini Erfe Roo. The list of cancer that interferon has not successfully treated includes the major ones breast Lui 5 and Colon. Fra commissioner Frank Young under i  no n news conference denied the approval was ased on the likelihood that the drug would be widely Pri. Crib cd for other disease. He said the Fra could not condone such action although it could not prevent it. And or. Dan Longo of the National cancer Institute said it was very important for cancer patients to realize research a still under Way and that Alpha interferon has not been shown to affect Many types of cancer. The Fra approved manufacture and sales of interferon by Hoffmann Laroche inc. And Schering plough corp. Hoffman Laroche s product will be called Rof Cron a letters reveal unusual maladies of modern life Boston a the prestigious medical Jour Nal that informed the world of Lawn Mower Arm video game palsy and unicyclist s sciatica has Dis closed the existence of another malady of modern life poster presenter s thumb. Over the years such titbits have been lucked among the letters to the editor of the new England Jou Nuu of Medicine providing wry Relief from the solemnity of the rest of the Magazine. Each week the journal receives about 100 letters and prints 20 or so. Most acc decidedly unfunny. But sprinkled through the sober exchanges Are occasional droll , for instance the report by or. Laurel c. Preheim of Creighton University about a Blister he got at a scientific meeting. Preheim s mishap occurred at a poster presentation a session in which researchers outline their studies by hanging up placards covered with data. The Job requires work ing lots of thumb  completion of the task prese in writes about himself the patient noted painful erythema redness on the Volar Palm aspect of his right thumb. In 15 minutes a Blister appeared. We re very important to the Advance of medical science bul we also like to entertain our readers was editor Arnold s. Adman. We like to be inter Esting. We like to be read. So we put in a Little Doc Rel or lome Tongue in Cheek observations on thru illnesses just for entertainment. We like to also in the current Issue. Or. John r. Fowler of the University of Cincinnati medical Center warns of an unlikely Hazard of magnetic resonance Ima Gera new kind of diagnostic machine that uses a powerful Magnet the lines of a for lift working near one of these devices were drawn into the machine s chamber by the magnetism injuring a Lech ll1" Michael Hill of the University of Arizona writes about a 5-year-old boy who suffered an Epi Leptic seizure after putting o toxic Load in his Mouth. 4 1 i lot hero a i considered i possible Zugic Bullet treat ment for cancer in the be 70s. While Schering plough s version will be called Inion a. The announcement marked the first . Government approval of interferon which has been researched for nearly 30 years and in the late 1970s was considered a possible magic Bullet treatment for cancer. Those Hopes of a Quick and Cay cancer care were doused when clinical trials failed to produce the expected miracles. But inner Ecron continues to be Les cd against a Broad Range of ailments including Kaposi s Sarcoma n rare1 Cun cer strongly associated with acquired immune deficiency syndrome or aids and chronic nyc Loginous leukaemia a form of leukaemia in adults. The approval was announced by Young and by health and human services Secretary Otis r. Bowen. With both saying their presence reflects the potential shown by tie drug. Bowen said the decision Murks a new age in Medicine one which the medical and scientific communities have looked Forward to fur nearly 30 years. This is the Day that interferon finally conies of age in a practical application for treating  Young called the approval a medical Milestone. It Marks the first of whal is sure to be an explosion of dra Matic new medical advances emanating from in techno  incr Ecron is n hormone the body produces to Alert the system to fight viruses. While doctors recognized its Poten tial research was hampered by the rarity of the substance until the genetic engineering tool called recombinant Dan was developed and allowed the production of inter Ecron in bacterial factories. In clinical trials of Alpha interferon against hairy cell leukaemia 92 percent to 94 percent of treated Pali car were alive after two years compared with fewer than 50 percent of patients who did not receive inter Ecron. Young said. The disease a no Inlo remission in 75 Pyrc Cal o to percent of treated patients lie said the treatment includes daily injections for up la in months followed by maintenance injection three times a week. The patient can be trained 1u give himself the shots similar to a diabetic taking insulin injections. Firm wanted vat study rejected because of poor design lawyer says Washington a an attorney for Bell South corp. Said wednesday the company asked the White House budget office to reject a scientific study on health risks of computer terminals Only because the study was poorly designed and unlikely to produce valid results. Hubert f. Owens representing the company before a House subcommittee said the company s position was based on reviews of the proposed study of video display terminals or dts. By two Public health special Isle. Both concluded the study could not produce scientifically valid results and that it would be unwise to under take the study until and unless it was substantially modified Owens said. But he also said the regional Telephone company would have More Faith in the study if other industries insurance airline and newspaper companies for example also made their employees available for the health study. The study is too narrowly defined in  it includes Only telecommunications workers Owens Lold the House labor subcommittee on health and safely. Other industries which Are equally As vat inc Sivc and the Public at Large will not give significant credence to the findings nor deem them applicable to their utilization of  he said. The company by complaining to the office of manage ment and budget helped Block a Federal study of How vat computer terminals affect pregnant women. The proposed study was designed by the National Institute for occupational safety and health. It would have compared the pregnancy histories of 2,000 Bell South Tele phone operators who use dts with 2.000 at to opera tors in the same area who do not use computer terminals. Or. James m. Melius director of the Insl Lule s division of Field studies testified the Institute has spent More than three years trying to devise a Good study to determine if dts affect pregnancies a question that he said is still unresolved. The Bell South study would have been the largest human vat reproductive study Ever conducted he  Agency met with Industry  including Bell South in developing the study he said. The study protocol was approved internally in september 1985 and sent to bomb under regulations requiring that Agency s review. Bell South complained to bomb about the study Melius said and bomb rejected the study in november citing objections that paralleled those of Belt South. Melius said the Institute has revised the study and is re sub milling in to bomb calling in a scientifically sound study lha will be valuable in evaluating this Public health  suit attacks Fra failure to ban chemical Washington up the food and drug administration should be forced to ban a possibly cancer causing chemical used to take the caffeine out of Coffee two coat unit groups said in a lawsuit filed in a us. District court. Public citizen and the consumer federation of Ameri Ca accused the Fra and the department of health and human services wednesday of violating a Law thai re quires a ban on chemicals that Causa cancer in animals. The lawsuit said several scientific studies found the chemical methylene Chloride causes cancer in the livers and lungs of mice and May cause cancer in the mammary glands arid salivary glands As Well. Rather than Banning methylene Chloride the Fra has allowed manufacturers to use reduced amounts of the chemical. Fra spokesman Emil Corwin declined comment. By ing the Agency is looking at the complaint and then we Al consider in and  the Taw clearly provides that food additives that cause cancer in animals must be banned from the food Supply. Anything less than a total ban violates the Law and de Prives Consumers of the Protection Congress intended said Catherine Meyer attorney for the consumer groups. The International Coffee organization said 17.3 per cent of americans drink decaffeinated Coffee. Methylene Chloride is used in the majority of decaffeinated coffees sold in the United states the consumer groups Taid. The residual amount in the Coffee docs not exceed 10 parts per million. In december has and Fra announced methylene Chloride is an animal Carcinogen and proposed Banning its use in cosmetics such As Hairspray