Ovarian Cancer

When cancer experts announced yesterday that they had identified certain symptoms that might indicate ovarian cancer, they sent a pointed message to patients and clinicians: Scrutiny of seemingly benign physical complaints can save lives. The "first national consensus on ovarian cancer symptoms" urged women and clinicians to regard bloating, abdominal pain, eating difficulties and urinary symptoms as possible early warning signs. According to the statement by the American Cancer Society, the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation and the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists, women should contact their doctors if they experience such symptoms almost daily for a few weeks.

Gail Purtan is such a private woman that she'd put a sheet over her head if it would help her go unnoticed, one of her daughters says.A family-first kind of woman, she has spent her life supporting others' accomplishments, notably those of her husband, Dick, one of Detroit's most beloved radio personalities, and their six daughters.But 18 months ago, Purtan's diagnosis with an advanced case of ovarian cancer changed her profile. "I feel I have no right to stay quiet when there is so much to tell women," she says.

Elizabeth Tilberis -- Liz to her friends and fashion peers -- was fuming.At a Jean Paul Gaultier show in Paris, a burly guard was manhandling Tilberis' assistants. She asked him to stop. He declined.What did one of the world's most celebrated fashion journalists, a woman known for her reserve and elegant nature, do about that? She slugged him."The fashion industry has a reputation for people who are self-involved and aggrandizing, but she was the exception," said Mary Lou Luther, a veteran fashion columnist, who years ago witnessed the event.

Over the past two years, doctors have beefed up their chemo- therapy arsenal against ovarian cancer from two drugs to about 10.Yet the truth remains: Survival rates are only 20 percent to 25 percent for those with advanced disease.Since 1971, as deaths from cervical cancer plummeted by 50 percent, ovarian cancer deaths rose by 50 percent, in part because there are still no routine screening tests. Most ovarian cancer is found only after it has spread. But for those who are diagnosed early, the cure rate is 90 percent.

Gaithersburg-based MedImmune Inc., one of the nation's few profitable biotechnology companies, said yesterday that it plans to buy U.S. Bioscience Inc. so it can move into the oncology market.The proposed stock swap deal values U.S. Bioscience of West Conshohocken, Pa., at $492 million, or $16.50 a share. U.S. Bioscience shares rose $2.625 to $14.125 yesterday. MedImmune rose $7.1875 to $109.25."This acquisition further solidifies MedImmune's commitment to the field of oncology," said Wayne Hockmeyer, chief executive officer at MedImmune.

An artful breed of beadsNot so long ago, beads got no respect. They were the tacky decoration on moccasins bought at a souvenir stand, or something for children to fool with in crafts class.But art and fashion are omnivorous in their hunt for new ways to express inspiration, and now the once-lowly bead is used to make jewelry and art of a high caliber -- some of which is on display in a five-person show at OXOXO Gallery, 1617 Sulgrave Ave., in Mount Washington.The most exuberant work in the show belongs to Baltimorean Joyce Scott.

Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc., the Baltimore-based biotechnology firm, expects to move an experimental treatment for ovarian cancer into human trials late this year or early next year, Dr. Craig Smith, the company's chief executive officer, told analysts and investment managers yesterday at the BT Alex. Brown health care conferance.Craig was among the 200 biotechnology and health care executives scheduled to give presentations at the event being held in Baltimore. It concludes tomorrow.The treatment Guilford is developing is a biodegradable polymer-based gel containing the powerful cancer-fighting drug taxol.

Laurie Beechman,43, the longest-running Grizabella in Broadway's longest-running hit, "Cats," died Sunday in her White Plains home of complications from ovarian cancer, according to her agent, Jim Wilhelm.She took on the part of Grizabella in the touring company of "Cats" in 1983, and four months later stepped into the part on Broadway, which she played on and off for more than five years.Benjamin Bowden,91, a designer and inventor who created a futuristic bicycle called the Spacelander, died Friday in Lake Worth, Fla. In the 1940s, the British-born inventor designed the Healey sports car, a forerunner of the Austin-Healey, and an armored car for Winston Churchill and King George VI.Adrian Marks,81, a former Navy pilot instrumental in saving 315 sailors from the sinking USS Indianapolis during World War II, died Saturday in Frankfort, Ind.Leonie Rysanek,71, a celebrated soprano who gave more than 2,100 performances on the world's leading opera stages, died of bone cancer Saturday in Vienna, Austria.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Scientists might have one of the most effective weapons yet in the fight against deadly ovarian cancer if a treatment presented yesterday in Orlando succeeds in clinical tests."

SEATTLE -- Women who don't have a strong family history of breast cancer should not worry about being tested for one of the major breast-cancer genes, University of Washington researchers reported yesterday.In the study, only 2.6 percent of women who already had the disease were found to have a defective BRCA1 gene, linked to breast and ovarian cancer.Statistically, one in eight women in the United States develops breast cancer; experts estimate the disease will kill more than 43,500 this year.

CHICAGO - In the high-profile world of breast cancer advocacy, women with a hereditary predisposition to the disease often feel overlooked. That's why it meant so much when actress Christina Applegate acknowledged last month that she has a genetic mutation known as BRCA1 linked to breast and ovarian cancer. Applegate, 36, went further, disclosing that she had had both breasts surgically removed. The actress' mother has battled cancer twice and "I just wanted to kind of be rid of it," she said on Good Morning America.

Christina Applegate is young, beautiful, famous and stunningly candid about her decision to have both breasts removed rather than live in dread that her breast cancer would return. "I just wanted to kind of be rid of it," she said on Good Morning America this week. "So this was the choice I made and it was a tough one." Applegate, star of Samantha Who? and, previously, of Married ... with Children, is just 36. She was found to have breast cancer in July, and it wasn't a surprise. Her mother is a two-time breast cancer survivor, so Applegate had been getting mammograms since she was 30. More important, the young actress tested positive for a mutation in what is called the breast cancer gene, BRCA1.

Sen. Barack Obama's personal doctor said yesterday that the Democratic presidential candidate is in excellent health but is struggling, with some success, to quit smoking. Dr. David L. Scheiner, Obama's primary care physician since 1987, said his patient has desirable blood pressure and cholesterol, jogs regularly and is "lean and muscular with no excess body fat." One worry: Obama, 46, has a history of "intermittent cigarette smoking," said Scheiner, adding that the Illinois senator has quit several times and is currently using Nicorette gum "with success."

Kathleen Drenga Glass, a certified public accountant, died of ovarian cancer Saturday at her Westtown, Pa., home. The former Towson resident was 56. Born Kathleen Drenga in Baltimore and raised in Towson, she was a 1969 Notre Dame Preparatory School graduate. She earned a bachelor's degree from the College of Notre Dame and a master's degree in business administration from Loyola College, where she met her future husband, Dr. G. Daniel Glass, an optometrist. A certified public accountant, she joined the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen in downtown Baltimore and moved to Philadelphia in 1980.

Eighteen women in Nikki Karl's family have had breast cancer, ovarian cancer or both. Ten have died before the age of 42. Doctors X-raying Karl after she fell out of a tree at age 13 found a tumor on one of her ovaries. It was surgically removed, and she's been cancer-free ever since. The 38-year-old has a clear family history of cancer, but more than 80 percent of women who get breast cancer have no genetic mutation or family history of the disease. That percentage climbs to 95 percent when ovarian cancer is included, Karl said.

Dr. Janet Sunness of Greater Baltimore Medical Center, a National Institutes of Health-funded researcher and international authority on vision issues, has been appointed to the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration Medical Advisory Board. Sunness has served as medical director of GBMC's Hoover Rehabilitation Services for Low Vision and Blindness since March 2005. A resident of Pikesville and an ophthalmologist, Sunness is an expert on advanced dry age-related macular degeneration. Her clinical practice focuses on low vision and retinal and macular disease.

When cancer experts announced yesterday that they had identified certain symptoms that might indicate ovarian cancer, they sent a pointed message to patients and clinicians: Scrutiny of seemingly benign physical complaints can save lives. The "first national consensus on ovarian cancer symptoms" urged women and clinicians to regard bloating, abdominal pain, eating difficulties and urinary symptoms as possible early warning signs. According to the statement by the American Cancer Society, the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation and the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists, women should contact their doctors if they experience such symptoms almost daily for a few weeks.

The widely used genetic test for breast cancer risk can miss mutations that help cause the disease, according to a new study. The finding is likely to increase the pressure to develop more thorough testing methods. The test, which looks for mutations in genes called BRCA1 and BRCA2, missed them in about 12 percent of breast cancer patients from families with multiple cases of breast or ovarian cancer, according to the study's authors at the University of Washington. Experts said the chances of such false negative results were much smaller for women who were not from such high-risk families, so that most women who tested negative had little cause for concern.

Wendy Lea Fiedler, a political activist who headed Howard County's Democratic Central Committee and was a secretary in the county state's attorney's office, died of complications from ovarian cancer Monday at her Ellicott City home. She was 53. "I never knew Wendy until I was elected. She was a wonderful, sweet person," Howard County Executive James N. Robey said yesterday. First elected to the central committee in 1994, she had served as its chairwoman since 1998, when Mr. Robey won election.

Jill Chaifetz, 41, who spent most of her professional life championing the legal and educational rights of New York's children, died Thursday of ovarian cancer. Her death was announced by Advocates for Children of New York, the group she had headed since 1998. In 1992, Ms. Chaifetz founded the Legal Services Center at The Door, a New York youth development agency. Through the center, she provided legal advice to young people, including many who were in foster care or homeless.