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.

Prostatic irradiation doesn't lead to any appreciable increase in rectal cancer risk

Men who receive radiation therapy for prostate cancer are not at any appreciable increased risk of developing rectal cancer compared to those not given radiation therapy.

4 Jul 2006

New method of jaw reconstruction for oral cancer patients

Mayo Clinic ear, nose and throat surgeons have developed a promising new process for mandible (lower jaw) reconstruction following removal of oral cancer.

29 Jun 2006

Obesity associated with less favorable outcome after radiation therapy for prostate cancer

Obese men with prostate cancer are at higher risk for treatment failure after primary radiation therapy, according to a new study.

27 Jun 2006

First drug treatment for late-stage cervical cancer approved

FDA has approved a combination of Hycamtin (topotecan hydrochloride) and cisplatin for use as the first drug treatment for women with late-stage cancer of the cervix.

18 Jun 2006

Treatment options for brain metastases

Adding whole-brain radiation therapy to highly-focused radiation therapy does not improve survival for patients with cancer and brain metastases, but it may reduce the likelihood of the recurrence of brain metastases.

7 Jun 2006

Trastuzumab results promising for HER-2 positive breast cancer patients

Researchers have shown that patients who receive trastuzumab at the same time as post-chemotherapy radiation treatments for HER-2 positive breast cancer have no more risk for major side effects or complications than those who do not receive the drug.

7 Jun 2006

Exercise is emerging as a new therapeutic weapon to tackle cancer

When individuals with breast or prostate cancer followed a moderate, home-based exercise program using resistance bands and walking, the patients had less fatigue during radiation treatments, greater strength and could walk farther and faster in only four weeks, researchers discovered in a pilot study.

7 Jun 2006

Hormonal treatments reduce risk of cancer returning

Women diagnosed with breast cancer who carry a certain genetic mutation can have breast-sparing surgery but should consider hormonal treatments to reduce their risk of cancer returning.

6 Jun 2006

Addition of gemcitabine to standard postoperative treatment increased pancreatic cancer patients' survival by 50 percent

Adding the cancer-fighting drug gemcitabine to standard therapy after surgery significantly improves survival for patients with the most common form of pancreatic cancer, according to a new multicenter study led by a University of Maryland radiation oncologist.

6 Jun 2006

Taxotere combined with standard chemotherapy improves survival in advanced head and neck cancers

The addition of docetaxel (Taxotere) to an initial chemotherapy regimen for inoperable head and neck cancers reduced mortality by nearly 30 percent over three years following treatment compared to the standard two-drug combination.

5 Jun 2006

Breast radiation device associated with complications

Doctors in New England have discovered that patients receiving accelerated-partial breast radiation therapy using a balloon brachytherapy system after lumpectomy for breast cancer can develop seroma, the retaining of fluid, in their breast which can require aspiration or make monitoring them by physical exam more difficult.

1 Jun 2006

Effectiveness of radiation therapy for older women with early breast cancer

Elderly women with early-stage breast cancer had a lower risk of recurrence when they were treated with radiation therapy, according to a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

17 May 2006

Gene family of potential tumor inhibitors identified

Proteins from a newly discovered family of genes, LRIG, function as a retardant for a protein that is important to tumor cells. It is probably this mechanism that lends the gene family its inhibiting effect on cancer tumors.

17 May 2006

First animal model that mimics human head and neck cancer

An Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute research laboratory has developed a novel mouse model designed specifically to study the often devastating head and neck squamous cell cancers.

16 May 2006

Promising chemo, therapeutic viruses, cutting-edge surgery debut at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center

Brain tumor specialists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center are poised on the brink of a new era.

10 May 2006

Breast removal not the only treatment option for non-invasive breast cancer

Breast conserving surgery, long known to be successful at treating the more common invasive cancer, can also be effective for this pre-invasive condition, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

8 May 2006

$New procedure to treat fractured vertebrae caused by spinal tumors$

New procedure to treat fractured vertebrae caused by spinal tumors

A radiologist at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine has developed a new procedure to treat fractured vertebrae caused by spinal tumors, a procedure that may decrease the risk of complications, which are experienced by 5 to 10% of patients with malignant tumors of the spine.

8 May 2006