The.Bird@f38.n135.z1.fidonet.org (The "Bird") (09/25/90)
All of the following is a matter of public record:
The use of Hyperthermia in AIDS patients with Kaposi's sarcoma
(KS) has received considerable public attention. The first two patients upon
whom this procedure was performed are patients of Atlanta pathologist Dr.
Kenneth Alonso. Dr. Alonso initiiated this experimental use of hyperthermia
with Dr. William Logan, Jr., an Atlanta surgen, as a pilot project to examine
the possible use of this technique in the treatment of HIV disease.
Subsequently Dr Alonso requested that the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases (NIAID) perform an objective scientific and medical
evaluation of the study techniqes, results and patients. His request was based
on a desire to share the study findings with other clinicians and to determine
possible directions and opportunities for further research in hyperthermia as
a treatment for HIV disease. Because of the reported success of this treatment
and attendant widespread, as well as the commitment of NIAID to explore
promising anti-Aids therapies, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, NIAID director, asked Dr.
Daniel Hoth, NIAID Division of AIDS (DIAIDS) Director, to form an evaluative
team in response to Dr. Alonso's request. The team completed their
investigation on August 27, and a full report of their findings and
recommendations has been submitted to NIAID and Dr. Alonso.
The evaluative team was headed by Dr. Lawrence Deyton, assistant director for
community research, NIAID, and chief of the community Clinical Research
Branch, Treatment Research Program (TRP), DIAIDS. Other members were Dr.
Jonathan Kagan, acting chief of the Clinical sciences Section and program
immunologist, and Dr. Robert Eisenger, program virologist, both of the Medical
Branch, TRP,DAIDS. Dr. Deyton also asked Dr. Ian Robins and Dr. Ramon Torres
to assist NIAID staff in his investigation. Dr. Robins is chief of medical
oncology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a leading authority on
the clinical use of hyperthermia. Dr. Torres, a clinician with a large HIV
practice in New York, is medical advisor to the Gay Men's Health Crisis in New
York City and a member of the AIDS Clinical Drug Development Committee, which
advises DAIDS on new and promising therapies.
Dr's. Deyton,Kagen and Eisenger visited Drs. Alonso and Logan at the Atlanta
hospital on July 25, 1990. During this visit, a full presentation was made of
the procedures used in selecting patients for study; the techniques employed
to monitor virologic and immunologic parameters; and the clinical, virologic,
and immunologic results of these two treatments. Staff who participated in
this project were interviewed, and data were abstracted from medical records
and raw laboratory data. Both patients who were treated with hyperthermia were
interviewed and examined.
(Continued)
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