The following stories appear in full on today's Vidyya Medical News Service Web site.

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) found that people who used cellular phones did not have an increased risk of brain tumors compared to non-users.  The study, due to be published in the 11 January 2001, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), was released on 19 December.

For more information: No Association Found Between Cellular Phone Use And Risk Of Brain Tumors

Very little is known about the causes of malignant or benign brain tumors. To pursue possible clues about causes from previous studies and identify promising new leads, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) began a comprehensive study of possible environmental and genetic causes of malignant and benign brain tumors in 1994. The present report focusing on cellular telephones is one part of the much larger study and was intended to determine whether use of these devices increases the risk of brain tumors. Get answers about the study with this quick Q & A style overview of the NCI study.

For more information: Questions And Answers: National Cancer Institute Study Of Brain Tumors And Use Of Cellular Telephones

The outlook for patients with advanced ovarian cancer brightened in the 1980s with the development of cisplatin and carboplatin and again in the 1990s, when paclitaxel, or Taxol®, emerged from clinical trials. But even with these advances, only a fraction of patients with stage III disease – by far the most common stage at diagnosis – survive five years.

For more information: Ovarian Cancer: What New Treatments Are In The Pipeline?

Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women and has the highest mortality rate of all gynecologic cancers.1 It is projected that 23,100 new cases of ovarian cancer will be diagnosed and 14,000 women will die of the disease in 2000. The prognosis for survival from ovarian cancer is largely dependent upon the extent of disease at diagnosis. Women diagnosed with local disease are over 3 times more likely to survive 5 years than women with distant disease. However, only one fourth of women present with localized disease at diagnosis. The overall 5-year survival rate for ovarian cancer is less than 50%. Incidence has decreased only slightly from 1973 to 1995; whereas mortality has decreased by almost 9% in that same time period.

For more information: Screening For Ovarian Cancer - Cancer Institute Information For Health Professionals

Scientists have found a possible genetic cause for the potentially fatal condition lupus, which could lead to the development of a drug treatment. Genetic experiments on mice found that a single defect in the messaging system between cells caused a severe auto-immune disease which resembles lupus.

For more information: Breakthrough: The Possible Genetic Cause Of Lupus Located

Today's Vidyya articles are:

• No Association Found Between Cellular Phone Use And Risk Of Brain Tumors

• Questions And Answers: National Cancer Institute Study Of Brain Tumors And Use Of Cellular Telephones

• Ovarian Cancer: What New Treatments Are In The Pipeline?

• Screening For Ovarian Cancer - Cancer Institute Information For Health Professionals

• Breakthrough: The Possible Genetic Cause Of Lupus Located