Stanford Hospital & Clinics names Marsh as president and CEO

Latest POE improvements reflect physician input

Cox appointed senior associate dean for pediatric and obstetric clinical affairs

Local transplant patient and wife reach out to inmate who received new heart

Stanford Hospital names new CFO, vice president

Medical students ask physicians to volunteer at Arbor Free Clinic

Mario get his wish

Stanford team wins virtual reality prize

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TRIPTOLIDE - An extract of a Chinese herb, Tripterygium wilfordii, appears to trigger "suicide" in cancer cells, according to a finding by researcher Glenn Rosen, an associate professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine, and Ke Wei, a postdoctoral fellow in Rosen's lab. Rosen and Pharmagenesis, a company where he acts as a consultant, received a patent and in December began testing the water-soluble form of the extract to determine its safety in cancer patients. Rosen is optimistic that triptolide may turn out to be a multi-use cancer-fighting agent, effective in combination with chemotherapy and in tumors that have become resistant.

HUNTINGTON'S - Researchers led by Lawrence Steinman, professor of neurology and of pediatrics, reported in the February 2002 issue of Nature Medicine on a potential treatment for Huntington's disease, based on a finding in mice. By enhancing the brain's natural protective response to the disease, they reduced the severity of the tremors and increased the lifespan in mice with a neurological disorder that mimics Huntington's. The researchers hope to find more effective, more specific compounds including possible multiple combined treatments for eventual use in human patients with Huntington's.

PSA - A study published in the January 2002 issue of The Journal of Urology found that prostate specific antigen (PSA) is clinically unreliable as a marker. Primary author Thomas Stamey, professor of urology, and colleagues examined 875 prostates that had been removed from cancer patients between December 1984 and January 1997 and measured the volume of cancer and other cancer-related factors associated with PSA levels in patients before surgery. The team found that pre-surgery PSA was not a useful predictor. Stamey's lab is searching for better markers based on the genes expressed in high-grade prostate cancers.

HRT - Results of the quality-of-life portion of the ongoing Heart and Estrogen/ Progestin Replacement Study (HERS) were reported in the Feb. 6 issue of JAMA by Mark Hlatky, professor and chair of health research and policy. Hlatky found that women experiencing symptoms of menopause appear to benefit from hormone replacement therapy, while the therapy tends to reduce the quality of life for women who don't have symptoms. The study provides one more piece of information to include in the decision-making process, Hlatky noted. An earlier portion of the study, published a year ago, focused on hormone replacement therapy and heart disease, and found no difference in risk of heart attack or fatal heart disease in trial participants taking HRT or a placebo. But all of the participants had coronary artery disease symptoms and do not necessarily reflect women in the general population.