
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 8, 1991                   TAG: 9102080712
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

DUKE HAS HIGH DEGREE OF SUCCESS

TWO PERCENT of the participants of the cancer treatment program at Duke University survive, says Dr. Marvin Lougheed (letter, Jan. 14). That is a curious statistic, considering Duke predicts an 80 percent success rate for all participants in its program.

Compare this to a three-year cancer-free rate of only 10 percent of patients with the same type of cancer who have not had the benefit of Duke's program. This makes me wonder where Dr. Lougheed got his statistics. Duke also can pinpoint the cause of failure for each person who does not survive. Duke has altered its procedure, based on those who have not survived the program, and the current cancer-free rate is much closer to 100 percent.

We take exception to another point by Dr. Lougheed. Our mother recently completed the program. The $160,000 cost is certainly well worth her life. Had she not gone through the program, she was almost guaranteed that cancer would recur; only the second time, it would be fatal.

Dr. Lougheed would lead you to believe that the success rate with breast-cancer patients is not as high as in other cancer patients using this treatment. Actually, it is used for many types of cancers. Breast cancer actually has one of the highest success rates for this treatment.

Finally, many insurance companies have approved this procedure, including Blue Cross/Blue Shield of other states. In addition, those insurance companies that have refused to pay have often been threatened with a lawsuit and have subsequently agreed to pay. MARY-MARGRET KOBALL HEATHER KOBALL BLACKSBURG

by CNB