Thursday, October 21, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 9
Nation
Vaccine may help fight prostate cancer
The Associated Press
BALTIMORE — A team of Johns Hopkins Oncology Center researchers has developed a vaccine that helps strengthen the body's immune system against prostate cancer, according to a study published in the journal Cancer Research.
The study, released Tuesday, showed that a vaccine can trigger the immune system to fight cancer in the manner it fights infection, said physician Jonathan Simons, who led the study.
"For years, people have said there is no way to turn the immune system against prostate cancer," he said. "We were astounded to find that every part of the immune system was alerted and turned on."
Researchers injected 11 prostate cancer patients with a genetically engineered vaccine. The patients had their prostates removed prior to the clinical trials, but their cancer still was spreading.
Tumor shrinkage occurred in eight of the 11 patients, according to study.
"We re-educated the immune system to recognize prostate cancer cells as a potential infection and attack them," said Simons.
The experiment produced not only the release of T-cells as researchers had hoped, but also the production of antibodies against cancer, Simons said. Both are key weapons of the immune system.
Physician William J. Catalona, director of urologic surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, said the results seem promising, but cancer patients shouldn't hang their
hopes on such vaccines in the near future.
In the Hopkins study, scientists removed tumors from each of the 11 patients, chopped up the tissue and grew them on laboratory culture dishes.
A gene called GMF-CSF, which produces a protein that alerts tissues to the presence of foreign substances, was inserted into the cancer cells.
The vaccine was then irradiated to prevent any further cancerous growth and injected into the patients' thighs, like a flu shot.
Clinton to meet with Palestinian, Israeli leaders
President hoping to minimize defeats
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Resuming Middle East diplomacy, President Clinton will meet next month in Norway with Prime Minister Ehud Barak of Israel and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to spur talks on an overall settlement.
The aim is to conclude an agreement on the future of Jerusalem, Palestinian statehood aspirations and several other thorny issues by next September — four months before Clinton leaves office.
"There is no greater priority for this president." Sandy Berger, his
assistant for national security, said yesterday in announcing Clinton would meet separately and then together with Barak and Arafat on Nov. 2 in Oslo.
Clinton has suffered a number of foreign policy setbacks
Clinton: will meet with Barak, Arafat
of late. Among them were the
Sorely's rehearsal of a treaty to
nuclear weapons tests and passage of a foreign aid bill that sharply cut several overseas programs. He vetoed it this week and denounced conservative Republicans who engineered his defeats as new isolators.
The three leaders will be in Norway to commemorate the 1993 Oslo accords, which put Israel and the Palestinians on the negotiating track.
Berger said talks between the two sides had reached a moment of truth, and while he seemed cautiously optimistic they would reach a settlement. Berger pointed out the clock is ticking.
framework of an accord by February.
One marker is the pledge Barak and Arafat took to complete the
Clinton is planning to spend only a day or two in Oslo, which contrasts with the nine mostly sleepless nights he needed last October to hammer out a West Bank accord between then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanvahu and Arafat.
Still, Berger said this would be a serious meeting and the United States intends to play a central role in the process.
Speaking to the Israel Policy Forum, a private group that backs U.S. peacemaking efforts, Berger said a Middle East that is stable and at peace is critical to America's interests.
Computer hackers alter Bush campaign Web site
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The day after presidential candidate George W. Bush redesigned his campaign's Web site, hackers vandalized it by replacing his photo with a hammer and sickle and calling for a new October revolution.
Representative, Mindy Tucker,
said the campaign's more sensitive computer operations — such as its e-mail system and contribution records — were protected on other machines and weren't thought to have been compromised.
Bush: his new campaign Web site was hacked into
The embarrassing security lapse Tuesday came the day after the Bush campaign launched its Internet site, www.georgebwush.com
"We have taken steps to make sure this particular problem is fixed, and we are looking at other ways to further secure the site," Tucker said.
The campaign was considering whether to formally notify the authorities.
A review of the Bush site by The Associated Press listed computer files plainly visible that experts including the Microsoft Corp.
recommend deleting for security reasons. One file includes instructions for users to edit Web pages on the site.
The Web site runs software from Microsoft, called Internet Information Server, that has suffered several serious security problems during the past year. Microsoft has distributed patches in each case but relies on local computer administrators to install them correctly.
Another security expert, Weld Pond, said there was no question that the Bush campaign neglected to remove remnants of sample computer code, which made the site vulnerable.
"That's probably how they got in," said Pond, a consultant with Lopht Heavy Industries of Boston. "The fact that there are these sample files on there is pretty problematic, meaning they didn't take much effort to secure it."
Tucker said the campaign's own investigation found that the altered Web page was accessible by the public for fewer than five minutes before a backup system kicked in and restored the vandalized text with a fresh copy.
"The (hammer and sickle) image wasn't subtle," said Jeremy Pinnix, a director at a Nashville, Tenn., design company. He noticed the change while looking at the site early Tuesday and captured a snapshot of the altered page.
Have you turned your prison-like dorm room into a shrine to sports? Has anyone ever eaten it attempting a skateboard trick named after you? Is your school mascot or your favorite player's number one of your 18 tattoos? Whatever it is, if it combines your personality and style with sports, we want to know about it. And you'll want to tell us about it if you're into free stuff. All you have to do to get in the game is e-mail us a photograph that shows off your individual sports style. Every day four people have a shot at winning a Nike bike messenger bag. If you've got one of the top five images of the week you'll win a Nike Triax 300 watch. And if you really kick ass, you could win a custom sports trip for two, to any event, any place. For more details and official contest rules, log on to nike.com/fame15.
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