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.

Promising new line in anti-cancer therapy

A promising new line in anti-cancer therapy by blocking the molecular motors involved in copying genetic information during cell division is being pursued by young Dutch researcher Dr. Nynke Dekker in one of this year's EURYI award winning projects sponsored by the European Science Foundation (ESF) and the European Heads of Research Councils (EuroHORCS).

11 Aug 2007

Intensity modulated radiation therapy reduces breast cancer treatment side effects

Women with early stage breast cancer who receive a newer type of radiation called intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) develop significantly fewer side effects than women who receive traditional radiation therapy, according to a study released in the August 1 edition of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology * Biology * Physics, the official journal of ASTRO.

1 Aug 2007

Sexual problems of long-term cancer survivors merit more attention

The first study to look at sexual function in very long-term female survivors of genital-tract cancer found that these women were pleased with the quality of their cancer care but less satisfied with the emotional support and information they received about dealing with the effects of the disease and treatment on sexuality.

27 Jul 2007

Radiation therapy combined with microsurgery shows promise for curing injured spinal cord

Research on rats with crushed spinal cords, similar to human injury, reveals that treatment soon after injury combining radiation therapy to destroy harmful cells and microsurgery to drain excess fluids significantly increases the body's ability to repair the injured cord leading to permanent recovery from injury, according to the study published in the July 18 peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE.

25 Jul 2007

FDA advisory committee recommends that FDA wait for overall survival results from Satraplatin phase 3 trial

GPC Biotech AG has announced that the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended (12-0) that the FDA should wait for the final survival analysis of the SPARC trial before deciding whether the satraplatin application is approvable for the treatment of hormone-refractory prostate cancer patients whose prior chemotherapy has failed.

25 Jul 2007

Novel radiotherapy approach for lung cancer

A novel radiotherapy approach has shown promise as a treatment option, and may possibly increase the cure rate, for people with early stage lung cancer who are unable to tolerate surgery, according to findings from a five-year study led by SUNY Upstate Medical University.

20 Jul 2007

PET scans show if radiation is shrinking lung tumors

Lung cancer patients may not need to wait till their radiation treatment is over to know if it worked.

19 Jul 2007

How children with brain tumors perform at school

While children who have had brain tumors perform worse in school than healthy kids, grades in foreign language are the most affected and girls have a harder time than boys in getting good grades, according to a study published in the July 17, 2007, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

17 Jul 2007

Nodal status is best predictor of outcome after neoadjuvant therapy for esophageal cancer

The number of lymph nodes that contain evidence of cancer is the best predictor of the effectiveness of adding chemotherapy and radiation to a treatment plan prior to surgery in individuals with oesophageal cancer, according to a study published last month in the Annals of Surgery.

16 Jul 2007

Chemically-modified mitochondrial toxin could lead to a new molecularly-targeted chemo drug

A chemically-modified version of a mitochondrial toxin long used to control species of invasive fish in lakes has been found to selectively inhibit two "survival proteins" in cancer cells.

12 Jul 2007

New use for a cell toxin found to inhibit survival proteins in cancer cells

A chemically-modified version of a mitochondrial toxin long used to control species of invasive fish in lakes has been found to selectively inhibit two "survival proteins" in cancer cells.

11 Jul 2007

Uncooked fish linked with liver cancer in Asia

An age old preference for eating uncooked fish dishes like koi-pla puts people in SE Asia at risk of ingesting trematodes that can cause a type of liver cancer called cholangiocarcinoma (cancer of the bile ducts), say researchers in this week's PLoS Medicine.

10 Jul 2007

Should soft tissue sarcomas be treated at high volume centres?

Soft tissue sarcomas -rare tumours of the connective tissue- should be treated at the few centres which see most cases, in order to give patients the best chance of good outcomes, concludes an analysis of sarcoma management in Florida, published in the Annals of Surgery last month.

9 Jul 2007

OncoLife web-based cancer survivorhip care plan

A team of cancer specialists from OncoLink.org, the award-winning cancer Web-based resource of the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, has launched OncoLife, the first and only individualized plan-of-care based on the national Institute of Medicine's recommendations for adult cancer survivors.

4 Jul 2007

Biomira files NDA for novel inhibitor of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha

Biomira Inc. has announced that it has submitted an investigational new drug (IND) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for PX-478. PX-478 has been shown in preclinical studies to inhibit hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1 alpha, a protein that controls the transcription of a number of genes whose products are important for tumor growth and survival.

4 Jul 2007

Actavis launches Ondansetron tablets in the U.S.

Actavis Group has announced that it has launched Ondansetron Tablets in the U.S. Actavis will market the product under an agreement with Natco Pharma Limited. Distribution of the product will commence immediately.

28 Jun 2007

Umbilical cord blood may safely preserve insulin production in children newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes

University of Florida researchers sought to determine whether it is feasible to use a patient's own cord blood stem cells to neutralize the body's autoimmune attack on the pancreas and help restore the organ's ability to make insulin, which regulates how the body uses sugar and other nutrients for energy.

27 Jun 2007

Avastin helps those with radiation retinopathy

Patients with radiation retinopathy who were destined to go blind within five years now can keep their sight longer through localized treatment with Avastin, a well-known cancer drug, according to a two-year study published in the June, 2007 Archives of Ophthalmology.

23 Jun 2007

Levels of protein CA 19-9 in blood predicts pancreatic cancer outcome after surgery

A team of researchers, led by surgeons at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia, has found further evidence supporting the ability of a protein to predict how well a patient with advanced pancreatic cancer will do after surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

23 Jun 2007

Intraoperative radiation therapy for breast cancer

Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) breast cancer specialists are using a new way to treat patients by delivering a one-time dose of radiation during surgery.

20 Jun 2007