Community Briefs

Friday, November 6, 1998

Community Briefs

Communications head leaves UCLA

Jeffrey Hirsch, interim assistant vice chancellor of University
Communications and director of University Publications, resigned
recently, leaving three people to replace him.

Hirsch was also interim executive director of the public
information office and had been with the university since 1994.

Toby Inlender will be interim assistant vice chancellor of
University Communications, a part of the External Affairs
department. Both public information and publications report to
Inlender. The search for a permanent appointment is ongoing.

Dave Greenwald, the editor of UCLA Today (the faculty and staff
newspaper produced by the university), assumes the duty of interim
director of publications.

Harlan Lebo, currently director of communications for the
College of Letters & Science, assumes additional duties as he
helps to manage the public information office. That office responds
to media inquiries and writes press releases for the
university.

Fundraising event

to be held Sunday

This Sunday, the third annual John Wayne Cancer Institute (JWCI)
Terry Fox Run will be held at the West Los Angeles Veterans
Center.

The event, in commemoration of a young Canadian and his fight
against cancer, will feature both individual and team competitions
for a 10K Run, a 5K Fitness Run/Walk, and a Children’s Fun Run.
Celebrities will be making appearances at this year’s event,
including Vanna White from The Wheel of Fortune and David Schwimmer
of NBC’s Friends.

Funds raised by the event will go to the JWCI at the Saint
John’s Santa Monica Hospital. In addition, Oscar de la Hoya will be
the honorary chairman. For further information call the Terry Fox
Run Hotline at (310) 582-7073.

Cancer detected

by using ultrasound

Researchers at the University of California San Francisco report
that a painless, non-invasive ultrasound procedure is able to
detect over 95 percent of uterine cancer and disease in
postmenopausal women.

The study is published in the Nov. 4 issue of the Journal of
American Medical Association.

The test, called an endovaginal ultrasound (EVUS), uses an
ultrasound probe that is placed directly into the vagina to obtain
a measurement of the uterine lining and detailed images of the
uterus.

Researchers found that EVUS was able to identify 96 percent of
uterine cancer and 92 percent of uterine disease in postmenopausal
women who experience abnormal vaginal bleeding, an indicator of
uterine problems.

"This is an excellent test in postmenopausal women who have
vaginal bleeding, and it can accurately exclude significant
underlying abnormalities, such as uterine cancer," said Rebecca
Smith-Bindman, MD, UCSF assistant professor of radiology and lead
author of the study.

"If a woman’s ultrasound results are normal, meaning that she
has a thin uterine lining, then there is no need for subsequent
invasive testing with a uterine biopsy," she continued.

Smith-Bindman added that, although many gynecologists are
knowledgeable about and may use EVUS in postmenopausal women with
vaginal bleeding, few primary care physicians and generalists rely
on the test because, until now, there has been a lack of sufficient
data proving its efficacy.

She also emphasized that physicians need to be thoroughly
trained to perform an EVUS examination.

Compiled from Daily Bruin staff reports

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