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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 1999)
University Uealth Center Free Services l/^ORKSHOPS The following workshops are offered most terms and are designed to help you make positive health changes. Call 346-4456 for more information. Smoking Cessation Weight Management Low fat or Vegetarian Cooking Individual health education Peer and Staff Health Educators can address your specific health concerns and assist you in making health promoting changes in your life. Call us at 346-4456 to schedule an appointment. JS IT TIME FOR A NAP? Too many calories? Not enough calcium or iron? Let us help you find the answers. If you are concerned and/or curious about the nutrient breakdown of your diet then NAP is for you. The Health Education Program now offers a FREE Nutrition Analysis Program to all registered students. Simply pick up an application at the Health Education room. WW 7TOTAL cholesterol SCREENING Every Tuesday from 9:30-11:30 a.m. you can get free total cholesterol screening. Simply check in at the Health Education room on the first floor of the Health Center. Xending library Excellent books, cassettes and videos are available for loan to U of 0 students from the Health Education room in the Health Center. There you will also find health related newsletters, articles, and pamphlets. Just stop by. ^UEST SPEAKERS AND PRESENTATIONS Peer Health Educators and Health Center Staff are available to speak to your organization on any of the fisted health issues as well as others. Call us for details. 007171 jrjEALTH EDUCATION AT THE NEW STUDENT RECREATION CENTER Come visit our cart for updated health and wellness information on topics such as: cholesterol screening... what do those numbers mean?; alcohol and the effects on “workouts,” training and fitness; food supplements and replacement fluids; effects of tobacco on physical fitness; eating disorders and much more! Come see us every Wednesday from 3:00-5:00 pm inside the main entrance of the New Student Rec Center! Topics Addressed: HIV/AIDS, Nutrition, Alcohol, Sexuality, Smoking, Cholesterol, Eating Disorders, Fitness, Stress, Relationships, Weight Management Health Education Program at the Health Center 346-4456 Visit us at our web site; www.healthcenter.com Student discovers cancer-fighter By Jennifer Kimura The Associated Press PORTLAND— A 30-year-old medical student may have stum bled upon a breakthrough in the treatment of cancer: the discovery of a natural protein that appears to inhibit a gene common among breast-cancer patients. While doing research for anoth er project in 1997, Joni Doherty found that the body naturally pro duces a small molecule, called herstatin, that circles clumps of tu mor cells and can block the signals that cause the cells to grow. Dr. Gail Clinton, an associate biochemistry professor at Oregon Health Sciences University who is Doherty’s mentor, said Doherty’s findings show that the protein ul timately kills the harmful tumor cells created by the aggressive gene HER-2, and may be able to completely rid the body of the can cer. “It’s nature’s way of blocking, inhibiting this very active recep tor,” Clinton said. The findings are reported in the September issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Acad emy of Sciences, which was re leased Tuesday. “I was ecstatic,” said Doherty, a first-year medical student at the University of Southern California who is studying to be a head and neck cancer specialist. “I thought, ‘Wow, I found something real here.’ ” An overabundance of HER-2 is present in 25-30 percent of breast cancer cases, resulting in lower survival rates and less time to re lapse. The body does not produce of HER-2 in large enough amounts to effectively block the tumor itself. That’s where treatment testing and development comes in. Scientists will begin testing the protein as a HER-2 inhibitor in mice and rats injected with hu man cells. The next step is testing on human cancer patients—mov ing from those terminally ill to those who have other options be sides taking the herstatin treat ment. If all phases of the testing go well, herstatin could be on the market within 3-5 years, Clinton and Doherty said. Doherty said a few researchers who heard about the discovery last month at a conference in Col orado Springs, Colo., last month were skeptical, but overall the re action has been supportive. During the early stages of her studies, though, some colleagues thought Doherty was pursuing a dead-end — an “artifact,” in sci entific terms. “You can pursue it for months and months thinking it means something, but it turns out to be nonsense,” said Clinton. But after running tests and keeping their discovery under wraps for a year, Doherty and Clin ton in June 1998 concluded that their experiment demonstrated positive true results. The discovery is so long in com ing, Doherty said, because scien tists had believed that the cancer gene’s surface was unregulated, or free of any proteins. Instead, the naturally produced protein her statin is reactive all the time. Although the HER-2 gene was discovered almost 20 years ago, and has been studied by scientists around the world, herstatin is the first naturally occurring molecule known to block it. “It’s a long way from cells in culture to treating patients, but we are very optimistic about our find ings,” Clinton said. Researchers from the Vollum Institute also were involved in the studies. Besides breast cancer, HER-2 is strongly linked to ovarian, gastric, endometrial and salivary gland cancer, and possibly to prostate and colon cancer. Doherty said she has dreamed of this moment since she first went to college. She said her motivation to keep studying is simple: “I want to cure cancer.” Former POWs file suit against captors By Richard Pyle The Associated Press NEW YORK— Claiming they were forced into , slave labor by Japanese companies, 500 Ameri can ex-prisoners of war are seek ing an apology and millions of dollars from their captors. A lawsuit, which seeks class action status, was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Albu querque, N.M., against five Japan ese companies. It was described at a New York news conference Tuesday as the first aimed at Japanese industrial firms that used POWs to produce war goods between 1942 and 1945. Such actions are illegal under the Geneva Convention and vari ous treaties that Japan’s wartime government promised to honor, said Eli J. Warach, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. The suit embraces families and estates of POWs who died, asks compensation for labor and in juries, and would bar the defen dants from doing business in the United States, but names no mon ey figure. “Millions and millions. You can’t put a price tag on this,’’ said Warach. “This is filed not for re venge — although there is some anger — but to get justice.” In Washington, Japanese em bassy spokesman Tsuyochi Ya mamoto said he could not com ment on a U.S. legal matter. “But we are well aware of the fact that during World War II we committed serious mistakes in colonizing neighboring countries and causing tremendous damage and suffering to many countries, including the United States,” Ya mamoto said. A State Department official, who asked not to be identified, said the 1951 peace treaty be tween Japan and the former Al lied Powers included settlement provisions for most claims over Japan’s actions during the war. In addition, he said, the United States compensated “victims of Japanese aggression” under a pro gram that began in 1948 and ex pired in 1977. The defendants, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.; Mitusi & Co., Inc.; Mitsubishi International Corp.; Nippon Steel Corp., and Showa Denko, were described as the five largest users of POWs in coal mines, factories and shipping docks. The five earned $291 bil lion last year, according to the lawsuit.
