ROANOKE TIMES 

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

DATE: THURSDAY, March 29, 1990                   TAG: 9003290641
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.                                LENGTH: Short

ACNE DRUG SUPPRESSES PRECANCEROUS GROWTH

An acne drug can suppress precancerous growths in the mouth for up to a year, preliminary research indicates.

The study is aimed at suppressing white patches in the mouth called leukoplakia, which can be a precursor of cancers in the mouth, pharynx, larynx and esophagus. Those cancers afflict 50,000 people a year.

The drug, called isotretinoin (Accutane), shrank growths significantly for three months and largely prevented progression during the following nine months, Dr. Scott Lippman said.

Lippman of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston presented his results Wednesday at a science writers seminar sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

-Associated Press 


 by CNB