European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 10, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Fighting Colon cancer Janet d Agostino medical writer Karen Cole is counting on a drug used to deform animals and humans to help save her life from Colon cancer. The drug called leva isole has been available in veterinary Medicine for More than 20 years. It has also been used to treat humans infested with Worms. Only recently however has it been used to treat a certain form of Colon cancer. Leva isole is waiting approval by the . Food and drug administration but is available to american physicians through the National cancer Institute because two studies showed it was successful in decreasing recurrence of cancer. Cole who at 35 is unusually Young to have Colon cancer is being treated with the drug by cancer specialist or. Maj elder Granger at the Lan Stuhl army regional medical Center in West Germany. Quot i see no reason Why i should t go into Complete remission,1 says Cole who was diagnosed with Colon cancer this Winter. Quot i feel excellent it s her doctor also is hopeful. Quot based on the studies. In a very positive and very hopeful she will benefits from leva isole Granger said. Leva isole used in combination with the anticancer drug 5-Fluorouracil, reduces recurrence of cancer by 41 percent and death from the disease by a third Granger says. The drug combination is useful Only for a certain Type of Colon cancer that has spread to Lymph nodes near the Large intestine. This Type of Colon cancer is called Dukes stage c. Cole started taking the medication after surgery at the Lan Stuhl Hospital to remove a tumor which was obstructing her intestines. The surgery was successful but the cancer had spread to her Lymph nodes. The symptoms started in january with diarrhoea and severe abdominal pain which Cole at first attributed to a virus. When the diarrhoea grew worse she went to the clinic at Ramstein a. Cole asked her husband air Force maj. Richard Cole to return to Europe from temporary duty in the United states when the diarrhoea failed to Abate. Her strength was fading from caring for herself As Well As for their 18-month-old son. Specialized a rays eventually revealed a tumor in her Colon a a portion of the Large intestine. Cole says she was prepared when she was told she had cancer. Quot i cried but it did t Surprise me at that Point i really feel i was prepared for bad Cole believes her Strong Christian beliefs and daily prayers were preparing her for the devastating news and have helped her Cope with the ordeal. Church family and friends have Given her support and assistance so she can focus on getting Well. Quot my Job is to get better Quot she says. To help prevent a recurrence of cancer Cole takes three tablets of leva isole daily for three Days every two weeks. Once a week she receives an intravenous injection of 5-Fluorouracil at the Lan Stuhl Hospital. She has suffered few sides effects from the medication other than fatigue and Mouth tenderness. A in studies the medication was tolerated extremely Well Quot says Granger it did not cause extreme hair loss or the severe nausea and vomiting experienced with other anti cancer drugs. Cole s husband has extended his tour As a Pilot with the 53rd tac fighter so at Pitburg a in order for his wife to Complete the year Long leva isole treatment. Cole says her strength has steadily increased since the surgery Quot i expect to be As Active As counselling and sessions with a red Cross cancer cancer specialists at the a amp Husz Stitser a amps Gus Schuetzler s8.s Karen Cole a being treated with leva isole a drug formerly used mainly in veterinary Medicine. Support group help her live with the disease. The treatment has Given her additional Hope for recovery. Quot i m grieving Over my lost health but right now in a not having a big problem with leva isole alone is not effective but when used with 5-Fluorouracil, it kills cancer cells. It is believed that leva isole works by stimulating the immune system Granger says. The National cancer Institute believes the treatment should be an option for almost every patient with this particular form of Colon cancer. Granger and his Lan Stuhl colleague or. Maj Deborah Speare Are the . Military s Only cancer specialists in Europe. Granger is treating another patient with leva isole also a woman in her 30s. Although it is unusual to see two Young people with Colon cancer Granger says it is less surprising considering that the military population is basically a concentrated group of Young people. Colon cancer usually afflicts people 50 years of age or older. Among numbers of deaths in the United states caused by cancer Colon cancer ranks second surpassed Only by lung cancer. There Are 110,000 new cases in the United states every year. No effective ways to prevent Colon cancer or to detect it in its earliest stages Are by Jean Marbella Baltimore Sun n the night before the operation one of the doctors visited the cancer patient and his wife in the Hospital room and related a message As sure and Chilly As a Scalpel a a it a going to be a Tough operation and we Don t know if you la make it Quot John Sterle says the doctor told him. Quot and even if you do make it through you re going to go Home with tubes coming out of you you la need a nurse you la have to be fed by an today a year after the surgery Sterle is glad to be living proof of the error of the doctor s pessimism. But his happiness is tempered by the memory of the doctors cold bedside manner. Though such uncaring treatment in the United states at the hands of a caregiver is probably unusual a and indeed interviews with other patients indicate that supportive comforting physicians seem to be More the Norm a the Prospect is real enough to have prompted some changes in the education and training of the doctors who take our health and Well being into their hands. Under scrutiny in recent years has been the entire medical education system in the United states a from the intense Competition for admission to the highly technical scientific courses that make up the bulk of the pre med and med school curriculum to the punishing Boot Camp like years of internship and residency. With a system so inhumane critics wonder can the doctors it produces be anything but Quot there s a selection Bias in the process in favor of people who May not have the human characteristics you a want in a doctor Quot says John Gryder a Johns Hopkins University chemistry professor and adviser to pre medical undergraduates. Quot its like a hazing Riua defenders of the traditional system however say i i necessarily rigorous a that it is How physicians in training develop the Tough minded decisive qualities needed by someone entrusted with life and death is coming slowly and subtly to Medicine an Page 16 a a a the stars and stripes tuesday april 10,1990
