Radiotherapy News and Research

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Radiation therapy (in North America), or radiotherapy (in the UK and Australia) also called radiation oncology, and sometimes abbreviated to XRT, is the medical use of ionizing radiation as part of cancer treatment to control malignant cells (not to be confused with radiology, the use of radiation in medical imaging and diagnosis).

Light activated magic bullets zap out cancers

Scientists in Britain believe they may be able to use ultra-violet light to render cancer-fighting drugs far more effective.

30 Oct 2007

Which lung volumes to use for radiotherapy planning of lung cancer

A new method to standardize the reporting of radiation dose volumes in the use of four-dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT) can lead to a more accurate radiation dose to the lungs in lung cancers, thereby lowering the risk of lung injury, according to a study presented at the Plenary I session on October 29, 2007, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 49th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.

29 Oct 2007

PET scans track small tumors after stereotactic body radiotherapy

Readily available CT screening for lung cancer is increasing the discovery of small, primary lung cancers.

28 Oct 2007

Surgery, radiation gives early survival advantage in bile duct cancer

Oregon Health & Science University researchers are reporting the discovery of an early survival advantage when a combination of surgery and radiation therapy is used for patients with a rare but deadly bile duct cancer.

28 Oct 2007

Integrated approach to IMRT provides quality care for head and neck cancer patients

Results from a University of Pittsburgh study demonstrate that intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for head and neck cancer can be uniformly delivered in a large health care system of academic and community cancer centers through a centralized planning and treatment process.

28 Oct 2007

Combination targets offer new hope in fight against cancer

While some targeted therapies - drugs developed to attack specific molecules in the critical chemical pathways occurring within cancer cells - work well by themselves, increasingly researchers are finding that they work better when teamed with other targeted and conventional therapies.

24 Oct 2007

New knowledge about basic cancer biology

Merging technological innovations and new knowledge about basic cancer biology, cancer researchers now target specific molecules involved in critical chemical pathways of cancerous cells.

17 Oct 2007

Cancer conflict with adjuvant chemotherapy

Women under the age of forty with breast cancer who are given drugs in addition to lumpectomies or radiotherapy, known as adjuvant chemotherapy, may not be benefiting from these drugs.

10 Oct 2007

Decrease in the use of radiotherapy procedures for the treatment of cancer in hospitals

The Department of Radiology and Physical Medicine of the Universidad de Granada, in Andalusian hospitals radiotherapy is not used as much as should be expected for the treatment of cancer, in favour of other procedures such as chemotherapy or surgery.

10 Oct 2007

Surgery may offer best chance of long-term prostate cancer survival

A study from Switzerland suggests that men who have surgery for prostate cancer appear less likely to die of the disease within 10 years than men who choose other treatment options, especially if they are younger or have cancers with certain tumor cell characteristics, according to a report in the Oct. 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

9 Oct 2007

Surgery for prostate cancer appear to offer greatest survival chance

9 Oct 2007

Re-educating immune system cells slows tumour growth

Immune system cells recruited by cancers to help them grow and spread could be 're-educated' to attack the tumours instead of aiding them, Cancer Research UK scientists announced at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Conference in Birmingham today (Wednesday).

4 Oct 2007