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SOUTHERN VOICE • DECEMBER 29/1994 13 f9 HEALTH NEWS Kaposi's Sarcoma Linked To Herpes Virus: Kaposi's sar coma (KS), the cancer that afflicts more than a fourth of all gay men with AIDS, may be related to a herpes virus, re searchers reported Dec. 15. Led by a husband-and-wife team at Columbia University, the researchers report that unique DNA sequences, or fragments of genes, were isolated from tissues of Kaposi's sarcoma lesions taken from AIDS patients and that the gene mate rial may be from a previously un known human herpes virus. "The DNA sequences we found contain portions of at least three dif ferent genes that are unique to herpes virus," said Dr. Yuan Chang. "The evi dence strongly suggests-that these DNA sequences belong to a new herpes sequence, but additional tests are needed to confirm it." The new findings raise the possibility that the virus is the cause, or at least a contribu tor, to the cancer. Laboratories all over the world have been trying to determine if KS is caused by some infectious agent. Other viruses or bacteria have been suggested in the past, but were never confirmed. "It's really good work, and it could be a substantial advance," said Dr. Robert Gallo of the National Institutes of Health. "But I have major questions." Gallo and other researchers suggest more proof is needed of the precise role of virus in KS. Chang and Moore said they plan to test for the virus in tissue from patients with the slow-growth form of KS not associated with AIDS. If the virus is found there, it would support the suggestion that the virus causes KS. Doctors' Ability To Read Mammograms Varies: Doctors who specialize in reading x-rays vary widely in their ability to spot cancer on mammograms, a study conducted at the Yale Medical School shows. The new study confirms widely held suspi cions that specialists' competence to read these x-rays is not uniformly high. The study asked 10 community radiologists to look at 150 mammograms, describe what they saw and give their recommendations. All of the doctors came to the same conclusion in just 10 cases. The study found a surprising variability in the doctors' ability to see wor risome signs. Overall, they urged further tests to get a definite answer in 87 percent of the women who actually had cancer. There were major disagreements among doctors in how to handle 25 percent of the patients. These including such disparities as one doctor recommending a biopsy while another suggests routine follow-up. Five months later, the researchers shuffled the mammogram films and asked the radiologists to check them again. The doctors disagreed with their earlier assessments 16 percent of the time. Drug For AIDS-Related Diarrhea 'Disappointing': Clinical trials of a new drug designed to stop diarrhea in advanced AIDS patients have been disappointing for a Portland biotechnology firm. The clinical trials have concluded that the milk-based antibody product from ImmuCell Corp. didn't significantly reduce diarrhea, but did lower the number of parasites. "Unfortunately, there was an assumption that if you knock out the parasite, then the diarrhea would go away. But that didn't happen," said Michael Brigham, ImmuCell's chief financial officer. Success in the clinical trials would have resulted in a milestone $1.2 mil lion payment for marketing rights from ImmuCell's partner, Univax Biologies Inc. Volunteers Line Up For AIDS Vaccine Trials: Heterosexual male drug users in Thailand and gay men in Brazil will be the key volunteers of the first major human tests of two AIDS vaccines, the chief of the U.N. AIDS program said Dec. 16. Dr. Peter Piot of Belgium, appointed this week to head the new U.N. program to combat the disease, said tests will begin in 18 months to two years. The World Health Organization has just completed a master plan for the tes Is of two vaccines, Piot told a news conference. He said other vaccines are being developed, but are still only in the laboratory or are being tested on animals and are years away from being tested on humans. Officials in the U.N.'s World Health Organization said the test groups were selected because they were very likely to be exposed to a strain of the AIDS virus for which a vac cine had been developed and because researchers could track them. At least 3,000 to 4,000 people will take part, and possibly as many as 20,000, Piot said, adding that Brazil and Thailand had volunteered to host the tests. Di Robert Gallo said the findings could mark "a major advance" in the fight against KS. Addiction doesn’t discriminate, treatment shouldn’t either. 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