Duke University
Medical Center
Intercom
VOL. 24, NO. 47
DEC; 2, 1977
DURHAM, N.C.
f '
Research, education priorities.
Cancer Society president says
LENDING AN ARM TO A LEADING LADY—Ned Kearns meets a lot of nice people in his job of
assistant to the vice president for health affairs in the area of patient relations, but it's not every
day he acts as escort to the likes of actress Helen Hayes. Miss Hayes was a patient here for some
tests a couple of days last month and struck this pose with Kearns as she was leaving the hospital
to return to her home in New York. She had been in North Carolina addressing a fund raising
dinner in Southern Pines for the Comprehensive Cancer Center. (Photo by Parker Herring)
By William Erwin
The new national president of the
American Cancer Society (ACS) says, the
organization will continue to stress
education and research rather than try to
end federal price supports for tobacco.
"Lobbying and influencing legislation
are not important activities for us/' said
Dr. R. Wayne Rundles, professor of
medicine here.
At the same time, however, Rundles
made it clear that he's not soft on the
subject of smoking and cancer, saying
that "the best way to avoid lung cancer is
not to smoke."
Rundles was named
national ACS presi
dent Nov. 12 at the
annual meeting of
the society's board
of directors in New
York City. He had
served as president
elect during the past
year.
A member of the
Comprehensive Can- DR. RUNDLES
,cer Center faculty, the new president was
|the nation's first scientist to develop an
Effective treatment for one type of
‘multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone
j marrow.
1 In an interview here, Rundles talked
about the problem of cancer, past and
present.
"Many people around the country have
been disappointed at the slow progress
made in controlling cancer," he said.
"Some have underestimated the
complexity of the problem, and others are
not aware of the progress that has been
made."
I Better prognosis
Hodgkin's disease, the professor said,
I once was labeled an invariably fatal form of
cancer.
"Now upwards of 40 to 50 per cent of
patients with Hodgkin's disease are
cured," he said. "The others may live five,
10 or more years with their disease under
control."
Advances also have been made against
the most common form of leukemia,
(Continued on page 3)
Student develops respiratory pacemaker
By David Williamson
A 20-year-old Duke coed has developed
a respiratory pacemaker that Duke
neurosurgeons believe may soon help
some patients with severe neck injuries
breathe more easily while hospitalized.
Carolyn Cohen, a senior from Chevy
Chase, Md., almost dropped out of the
biomedical engineering program two
years ago because she felt some
introductory courses were too vague and
theoretical.
But later courses in medical
instrumentation, electronics and
circuitry sparked an interest that may last
all her life, she says.
Gives nerves a boost
Her device is called a phrenic nerve
stimulator, and its purpose is to give an
electronic boost to the nerves that cause
muscles of the diaphragm to contract and
draw air into the lungs.
Traditional "positive pressure"
respirators, which force air through
tubes into the lungs, keep alive accident
victims whose phrenic nerves have been
damaged, but have several disadvantages,
Cohen explained.
The bulky tubes prevent speech and
also carry a substantial risk of respiratory
infection. And because diaphragm
muscles are not contracting, their tissue
tends to waste away during long months
in the hospital.
"Our stimulator -will be used with
patients as soon as they have stabilized
after their accidents, before these
(Continued on page 4)
II
GETTING ADJUSTED—Duke University Engineering student Carolyn
Cohen demonstrates how a respiratory pacemaker she designed and
constructed will be attached to paralyzed patient* to help them breathe
more easily in the hospital. The device, already proven effective in
animal studies, will be tested on humans early next year. Robert Leech, a
computer programmer with the Center for the Study of Aging and
Human Development, serves as her model. (Photo by Jim Wallace)