Radiation Therapy News and Research

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Radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy, x-ray therapy, or irradiation) is the use of a certain type of energy (called ionizing radiation) to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation therapy injures or destroys cells in the area being treated (the “target tissue”) by damaging their genetic material, making it impossible for these cells to continue to grow and divide. Although radiation damages both cancer cells and normal cells, most normal cells can recover from the effects of radiation and function properly. The goal of radiation therapy is to damage as many cancer cells as possible, while limiting harm to nearby healthy tissue.

PCI after lung cancer treatment reduces risk of brain metastases in stage III NSCLC patients

Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with surgery and/or radiation therapy have a significantly reduced risk of developing brain metastases if they also receive prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI); however, this study did not show an improvement in overall survival with PCI, according to research presented at the 2012 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology.

7 Sep 2012

Anova Cancer Care to participate in CyberKnife research study

Anova Cancer Care has been chosen to participate in a landmark national prostate cancer study. The goal of the two-year study is to determine the best treatments for prostate cancer. The study will look specifically at prostate cancer radiosurgery.

29 Aug 2012

Patients tend to have worse outcomes when GBM appears in more than one location

When aggressive, malignant tumors appear in more than one location in the brain, patient survival tends to be significantly shorter than when the disease starts as a single tumor, even though patients in both groups undergo virtually identical treatments, according to research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Research Institute.

27 Aug 2012

Radiating fears over diabetes in childhood cancer survivors

People who undergo pancreatic irradiation during childhood cancer therapy are at an increased risk for developing diabetes later in life, report researchers.

24 Aug 2012

Diabetes risk may be higher in childhood cancer survivors who received radiotherapy

Childhood cancer survivors who underwent radiotherapy treatment that exposed their pancreas to radiation may be at higher risk of developing diabetes in later life, according to an Article published Online First in The Lancet Oncology.

23 Aug 2012

Segasist Technologies launches crowd funding campaign to bring Reconcillio software on cloud

Segasist Technologies, a Canadian software company developing next-generation image contouring platforms for biomedical applications, has launched a crowd funding campaign to bring its software Reconcillio on cloud.

22 Aug 2012

Radiation therapy alone no longer the best choice for early follicular lymphoma

A University of Rochester Medical Center study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, challenges treatment guidelines for early stage follicular lymphoma, concluding that six different therapies can bring a remission, particularly if the patient is carefully examined and staged at diagnosis.

22 Aug 2012

Research explores impact of radiotherapy in older women with low risk of breast cancer recurrence

A Rhode Island Hospital radiation oncologist says in a new editorial that research exploring the impact of radiotherapy in older women with low risk of breast cancer recurrence has little effect on actual clinical decisions.

22 Aug 2012

Radiosensitivity molecular signature can lead to better radiation therapy decisions for breast cancer

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center, working with colleagues in Sweden, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico, have validated a radiosensitivity molecular signature that can lead to better radiation therapy decisions for treating patients with breast cancer.

16 Aug 2012

Cancer patients with xerostomia can benefit from regenerative research

Biologists, surgical oncologists and regenerative medicine specialists from Rice University, the University of Delaware and the Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, Del., have begun a four-year program aimed at using cells to grow whole salivary glands that can replace those destroyed by cancer radiation therapy.

16 Aug 2012

Early stage breast cancer in older women: an interview with Dr. Benjamin Smith

Early stage breast cancer in older women is a common problem. In the United States nearly half of women diagnosed with breast cancer are aged 65 or older. A sizeable proportion of those patients have early stage breast cancer.

15 Aug 2012

Radiation therapy following lumpectomy may benefit older, early-stage breast cancer patients

For the majority of older, early-stage breast cancer patients, radiation therapy following breast conserving surgery may help prevent the need for a later mastectomy, according to research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

13 Aug 2012

Radiation after lumpectomy helps prevent need for subsequent mastectomy in older women with early stage breast cancer

Contrary to clinical recommendations, older women with early stage breast cancer may want to undergo radiation after lumpectomy to help ensure that they will not need a mastectomy in the future. That is the conclusion of a new study published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The findings indicate that current thinking on the risks and benefits of radiation for early stage breast cancer in older women may be inaccurate.

13 Aug 2012

Loyola to offer new radiotherapy system for cancer patients

A new radiotherapy system at Loyola University Medical Center will offer cancer patients shorter radiation treatments, with pinpoint accuracy and precision.

9 Aug 2012

Chemotherapy is appropriate adjunct to surgery for oral melanoma in dogs

The addition of chemotherapeutic treatment with carboplatin for dogs with oral malignant melanomas that have undergone surgical excision may be a reasonable alternative to adjunctive radiotherapy, report researchers.

8 Aug 2012

Mammography oversold by breast cancer charity

The world’s largest breast cancer charity comes under fire from experts today for using misleading statistics to persuade women to undergo mammography.

3 Aug 2012

Chk1 gene alone is sufficient to kill cancer cells

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have discovered a mutant form of the gene, Chk1, that when expressed in cancer cells, permanently stopped their proliferation and caused cell death without the addition of any chemotherapeutic drugs.

1 Aug 2012

Cancer therapy provides relief for painful foot condition

Research shows that external beam radiation therapy, similar to that used in treating cancer, provides effective pain relief for patients with plantar fasciitis.

30 Jul 2012

Dosimetry data from SalutarisMD episcleral brachytherapy device clinical study on wet AMD

At the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Annual Meeting yesterday, Russell J. Hamilton, PhD, Professor and Physics Section Head, University of Arizona Department of Radiation Oncology, reviewed dosimetry data for a minimally invasive episcleral brachytherapy device developed by Salutaris Medical Devices, Inc. (SalutarisMD) to treat Wet AMD (Age-related Macular Degeneration), the leading cause of vision loss and blindness.

30 Jul 2012

Patients with plantar fasciitis experience less pain and improved QOL after standard radiation therapy

Patients with plantar fasciitis (painful bone heel spur) experience significantly less pain and improved quality of life following a standard dose of external beam radiation therapy, a common cancer treatment similar to receiving an X-ray, according to a randomized, cooperative group study that was published online July 25, 2012, in the International Journal of Radiation, Oncology, Biology, Physics (Red Journal), the official scientific journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

30 Jul 2012

Radiation Therapy News and Research

Further Reading

PCI after lung cancer treatment reduces risk of brain metastases in stage III NSCLC patients

Anova Cancer Care to participate in CyberKnife research study

Patients tend to have worse outcomes when GBM appears in more than one location

Radiating fears over diabetes in childhood cancer survivors

Diabetes risk may be higher in childhood cancer survivors who received radiotherapy

Segasist Technologies launches crowd funding campaign to bring Reconcillio software on cloud

Radiation therapy alone no longer the best choice for early follicular lymphoma

Research explores impact of radiotherapy in older women with low risk of breast cancer recurrence

Radiosensitivity molecular signature can lead to better radiation therapy decisions for breast cancer

Cancer patients with xerostomia can benefit from regenerative research

Early stage breast cancer in older women: an interview with Dr. Benjamin Smith

Radiation therapy following lumpectomy may benefit older, early-stage breast cancer patients

Radiation after lumpectomy helps prevent need for subsequent mastectomy in older women with early stage breast cancer

Loyola to offer new radiotherapy system for cancer patients

Chemotherapy is appropriate adjunct to surgery for oral melanoma in dogs

Mammography oversold by breast cancer charity

Chk1 gene alone is sufficient to kill cancer cells

Cancer therapy provides relief for painful foot condition

Dosimetry data from SalutarisMD episcleral brachytherapy device clinical study on wet AMD

Patients with plantar fasciitis experience less pain and improved QOL after standard radiation therapy

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

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