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.

NIU seeks approval for new proton cancer treatment and research center

Northern Illinois University has named Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation as its expected provider of clinical services for a new $160 million proton therapy cancer treatment and research center to be built in the DuPage National Technology Park about 35 miles west of Chicago.

27 Feb 2008

New radiation therapy standards needed

Modern radiation techniques result in substantial variation between the prescribed dose and the actual dose of radiation delivered to the tumor, according to a study published online February 26 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

27 Feb 2008

Siemens Healthcare announces exclusive partnership with Prowess Inc.

Siemens Healthcare announces an exclusive partnership with Prowess Inc. to develop advanced radiation oncology treatment planning software for integration into Siemens' linear accelerators.

21 Feb 2008

Gene therapy - immune system discovery may lead to effective treatment for glioblastoma multiforme

A new gene therapy approach that attracts and "trains" immune system cells to destroy deadly brain cancer cells also provides long-term immunity, produces no significant adverse effects and -- in the process of destroying the tumor -- promotes the return of normal brain function and behavioral skills, according to a study conducted by researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Board of Governors Gene Therapeutics Research Institute.

20 Feb 2008

Henry Ford Hospital expands research on gene and radiation therapy for prostate cancer

Henry Ford Hospital is embarking on an expanded major clinical trial involving the use of gene therapy in combination with radiation therapy, to determine if the combined treatment is more effective than radiation therapy alone for patients with intermediate risk prostate cancer.

7 Feb 2008

Physician characteristics are associated with quality of cancer care

Whether a woman receives radiation after breast cancer surgery may be associated with certain characteristics of her surgeon, including sex and medical training, according to a study published online January 29 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute .

31 Jan 2008

Racial and ethnic differences among patients with extremity soft-tissue sarcomas

A new study reveals significant racial and ethnic differences in the treatment and survival of patients with soft-tissue sarcomas, a rare but dangerous cancer that begins in muscle, fat, blood vessels or other supporting tissue of the body.

23 Jan 2008

Treatment with hormone suppression therapy and radiation improves survival for certain prostate cancer patients

Men with localized prostate cancer who were treated with male hormone suppression therapy and radiation treatment had longer survival, but those with moderate to high levels of other illnesses did not experience this effect, according to a study in the January 23 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

23 Jan 2008

Intensity modulated radiation therapy

Newly diagnosed cancer patients should spend as much time researching a radiation treatment facility as they would spend picking out a new car or a home.

10 Jan 2008

Benefits of short-term hormonal therapy for men receiving radiation therapy for prostate cancer far outweigh the risks

Researchers report that just four months of hormonal therapy before and with standard external beam radiation therapy slowed cancer growth by as much as eight years - especially the development of bone metastases - and increased survival in older men with potentially aggressive prostate cancer.

4 Jan 2008

Three-drug cocktail improves outcomes in glioblastoma multiforme

New research at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center suggests that a three-drug cocktail may one day improve outcomes in patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a type of brain tumor with a dismal prognosis.

2 Jan 2008

Cell-death receptor links cancer susceptibility and inflammation

For over 10 years, Wafik S. El-Deiry, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Genetics, and Pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has been pursuing a cancer-targeting molecule called TRAIL and its molecular partners.

28 Dec 2007

Safer, more accurate, and more effective radiation therapy for pregnant women

Developing fetuses are extremely sensitive to radiation, which poses an impossible dilemma for expecting mothers in need of screening or treatment for cancer.

20 Dec 2007

Factors associated with survival in advanced laryngeal cancer

Type of treatment, sex, race and insurance status are associated with survival rates among patients with advanced laryngeal cancer, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

18 Dec 2007

New radiotherapy system benefits high-risk patients

A new radiotherapy system that combines high-tech imaging with precision tumor-targeting capability is helping cancer specialists at Stony Brook University Medical Center treat patients.

10 Dec 2007

Breast MRI spots other cancers, may alter treatment plan

In about 20 percent of women with breast cancer who plan to undergo a lumpectomy, breast magnetic resonance imaging reveals important diagnostic information that alters their treatment plan, University of Florida surgeons reported today (Dec. 5).

5 Dec 2007

Lymphatic vessel and lymph node function are restored with growth factor treatment

The frequent spread of certain cancers to lymph nodes often necessitates surgery or radiation therapy that damages the lymphatic system and can cause lymphedema, a condition of localized fluid retention that often increases susceptibility to infections.

4 Dec 2007

Treating throat cancer with IMRT can improve quality of life compared to conventional radiation therapy

Treating throat cancer with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) can improve the health-related quality of life of patients compared to conventional radiation therapy (CRT), according to a study in the December 1 issue of the International Journal for Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

3 Dec 2007

MIT radar technology fights breast cancer

Treating breast cancer with a type of heat therapy derived from MIT radar research can significantly increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy, according to results from the fourth clinical trial of the technique reported online Nov. 25 in the journal Cancer Therapy.

27 Nov 2007

Cryoablation for bone cancer tumors reduces pain, study shows

Cryoablation, a procedure most commonly associated with destroying kidney and prostate tumors by freezing them, has been shown to offer durable pain relief of cancer that has spread to bone.