Colon

CLEVELAND - It was only Saturday afternoon that Charlie Manuel deadpanned how he manages best when he manages least. Yesterday's 6-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners before a stunned, even angry Jacobs Field crowd might cause the Cleveland Indians' manager to reconsider his position. Nine outs from completing one of the most unlikely feats in postseason history, the Indians unraveled behind their suddenly ineffective starting pitcher and a slow-hand manager during an unsightly seventh inning that may well have turned a Division Series.

Alex Linowitz, a former owner of Lafayette Radio Electronics on North Charles Street and an expert at repairing music boxes, died Friday of complications from Alzheimer's disease at the Fairhaven retirement community in Sykesville. He was 89. Born in New York City and raised in Brooklyn, Mr. Linowitz attended City College of New York. He did not complete his final semester because of financial hardships his family faced during the Depression. "He had to quit school and go to work," said a daughter, Judy Doyle of Reisterstown.

Members of the family of an 82-year-old cancer patient who died after surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center mistakenly sewed shut his intestine have agreed to settle their medical malpractice suit.The settlement was reached as the case was set for trial yesterday in Baltimore Circuit Court. The terms were not disclosed under an agreement by both sides.The suit alleged that surgeons tried to cover up mistakes made when a cancerous section of Theodore Kozowyj's colon was removed on Oct. 14, 1984.

My husband's doctor says he's fine except for being borderline diabetic. My husband retired recently and is now in the house all day. He hardly eats during the day. He thinks he's too fat, though he is not. He drinks six cans of beer a day and eats a small dinner. Though I prepare a healthy meal, he always says he is too full. What he does eat is bags of black licorice. I've heard that is not good for the heart. Is that true? If your husband is drinking six cans of beer and eating a bag of black licorice a day, it's little wonder he has no appetite and is borderline diabetic.

Two revolutionary new drugs are in hospital pharmacies this week, a tangible sign that years of research into targeted approaches to fighting cancer are finally paying off, at least in a limited way. The new drugs are a far cry from the breakthrough that was predicted in 1998, when Nobel laureate James Watson was quoted as saying cancer would be cured "in two years" as a result of laboratory evidence that tumors would vanish if their blood supply was...

The Cancer Resource and Support Center (CaRES) reopens today and with a packed calendar for this month.Programs for survivors of ovarian and colon cancer resume at 7 p.m. today. Tomorrow, a brown bag lunch-rap session is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m., and a program for newly diagnosed cancer patients will be held at 1 p.m. A support group session also will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. tomorrow. Free 30-minute seated massages will be offered from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Friday.CaRES is an independent, nonprofit organization offering a place where cancer patients and their families can gather for free social, educational and emotional support.

Scientists in Baltimore have devised a test that searches stool samples for a genetic change associated with almost half of all colon and rectal cancers, offering hope for a more effective way to flag a developing cancer while it is small enough to cure.It is the first test that detects cancer by looking for its genetic underpinnings, suggesting a new strategy for catching other cancers before they are too advanced to cure.Although several years away from widespread use, the test represents a new turn in almost a decade of groundbreaking research into colorectal cancer by a scientific team at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center.

CHICAGO - The Orioles' biggest strength has turned into their Achilles' heel. Their normally reliable bullpen failed them yet again last night, as the Chicago White Sox turned a tightly pitched game into a 8-2 blowout at U.S. Cellular Field. Sidney Ponson stumbled in the seventh inning, and with the score tied 2-2, interim manager Sam Perlozzo went through a recurring nightmare, summoning one reliever after another who couldn't record an out. B.J. Ryan walked the only batter he faced to load the bases.

Doracon Contracting Inc. has built itself into a multimillion-dollar company with a long list of projects to its name, including part of the digging at the site of the Ravens football stadium. But as a black-owned business starting out in 1988, the Baltimore company needed help finding jobs. It got that help from state and city laws aimed at increasing minority contracts for public projects. "What you get from these programs is access," said Doracon president and founder Ronald Lipscomb.

NEW YORK -- Darryl Strawberry, the 36-year-old New York Yankees outfielder, underwent what doctors said was a successful and uncomplicated three-hour operation to remove a cancerous tumor from his colon yesterday.The surgical team at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan, headed by Dr. George J. Todd, said it removed a cancerous tumor that measured 2.4 inches in length and that nearly blocked his intestine. There was no visible evidence during the operation that the cancer had spread beyond that area of the bowel, the doctors said in a statement issued last night.