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.

Performing a sentinel node biopsy prior to mastectomy and reconstruction gives best results

Altering the standard step-by-step procedure that takes women facing a mastectomy from diagnosis to surgery to reconstruction can improve the process and help in determining if immediate reconstruction is the best course of action, according to new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

10 Oct 2005

Minimally invasive needle breast biopsies and sentinel node biopsies should be performed more routinely than they currently are

Physicians should strive to replace traditional, invasive procedures for diagnosing breast cancer with proven, less-invasive diagnostic methods, according to an international panel of breast cancer experts convened at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

9 Oct 2005

Call to stop exposing women to breast cancer risk by needlessly using radiation therapy as a component of Hodgkin disease treatment

Young women who are treated for Hodgkin lymphoma with chest radiation therapy have a high cumulative absolute risk of developing breast cancer later in life. This risk increases with age at end of follow-up, time since diagnosis, and radiation dose, according to a new study in the October 5 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

4 Oct 2005

Cancer incidence among women has increased slightly

Overall rates of cancer death for both men and women have declined in the United States, and cancer incidence has remained stable among men. However, overall cancer incidence among women has increased slightly, according to a special article that appears in the October 5 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

4 Oct 2005

Americans' risk of dying from cancer continues to decline

The nation's leading cancer organizations report that Americans' risk of dying from cancer continues to decline and that the rate of new cancers is holding steady. The "Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2002," published in the Oct. 5, 2005, issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, shows observed cancer death rates from all cancers combined dropped 1.1 percent per year from 1993 to 2002.

4 Oct 2005

PSA doubling time is an important indicator of how well a patient will recover from prostate cancer

The clinical outcome for prostate cancer patients who have been treated with hormone therapy and radiation therapy can usually be determined by how rapidly their prostate specific antigen level rises following treatment

3 Oct 2005

New method of radiation treatment may improve the local control of breast cancer

A new method of radiation treatment may improve the local control of breast cancer significantly which, is very important to cancer sufferers because it can preserve the breast and may also reduce the spread of the disease.

26 Sep 2005

Combining radiation, chemotherapy and liver transplantation increases survival in bile duct cancer patients

A new treatment for patients with a type of bile duct cancer promises a greater chance at survival by combining radiation, chemotherapy and liver transplantation, Mayo Clinic physicians report in the September issue of the Annals of Surgery.

12 Sep 2005

Children who survive cancer face educational difficulties and social isolation

A new study finds children who survive cancer have about twice the rate of educational and social problems compared to children without a history of cancer.

12 Sep 2005

Radiation oncologists around the country open their doors to Gulf Coast patients

Many victims of Hurricane Katrina are also cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy treatments. To help patients displaced by the storm, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology is compiling a list of radiation therapy facilities around the country who are willing and able to treat patients who have been evacuated from the area.

7 Sep 2005

Before hitting the beach, learn the signs of skin cancer

With summer coming to a close, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology has published a new brochure to help the public understand the signs and symptoms of skin cancer as well as learn the treatment options for the disease.

29 Aug 2005

First clinical trial of a biologic nanoparticle designed to give back to cancer patients the tumor-busting gene they have lost

The phase I clinical study will enroll 20 patients with advanced solid cancers (including most common tumor types), and is the culmination of more than a decade of work by a team of researchers led by Professor Esther H. Chang, Ph.D. at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

25 Aug 2005

Women think very rationally about breast cancer surgery from their own perspectives

When a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, her top priority is to get the cancer out and reduce the odds that it will ever return. But for some women just getting the cancer out doesn't feel like enough.

22 Aug 2005

Nearly one-third of former brain tumor patients require special education services

Children who survive brain cancer struggle for years with the malevolent echo of the disease and its treatment, according to a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.

22 Aug 2005

Best treatment for the immobilizing trauma of spinal cord compression in metastatic cancer

In this week's Lancet, Patchell's UK research team evaluate traditional surgical and radiation therapy options and conclude that direct decompressive surgery plus postoperative radiotherapy is more effective than either radiotherapy alone or other surgical options.

22 Aug 2005

Medulloblastoma irradiation may impair reading skills in young children

Irradiation therapy for the brain cancer medulloblastoma is more likely to impair IQ and reading skills of younger children than older children even if the dose of radiation is reduced, according to the results of the largest study of its kind, conducted by investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Texas Children's Cancer Center (Houston) and Royal Children's Hospital (Melbourne, Australia).

22 Aug 2005

Good news for the hundreds of thousands of cancer patients who undergo radiation therapy

Scientists report that they have a better understanding of the complex effects of radiation on tumor biology and that specific radiation treatment regimens may enhance the effectiveness of radiotherapy, even in tumor populations that have been notoriously difficult to treat.

16 Aug 2005

Introgen announces additional broad patent in China

Introgen Therapeutics has announced that a patent with broad claims directed to combination therapy with the p53 gene and conventional chemotherapy or radiation was issued in China.

11 Aug 2005

Radiation helps eye cancer patients retain vision

Doctors in the United Kingdom have determined that patients suffering from cancer affecting their eye can usually avoid visual handicap, loss of the eye and spread of the disease by receiving proton beam radiation therapy, according to a new study

1 Aug 2005

Rate of increase in PSA value predicts risk of death following radiation therapy

Men who have a higher rate of increase in their PSA value in the year prior to their prostate cancer diagnosis have a significantly higher risk of death following radiation therapy, according to a study in the July 27 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

26 Jul 2005

Radiation Therapy News and Research

Further Reading

Performing a sentinel node biopsy prior to mastectomy and reconstruction gives best results

Minimally invasive needle breast biopsies and sentinel node biopsies should be performed more routinely than they currently are

Call to stop exposing women to breast cancer risk by needlessly using radiation therapy as a component of Hodgkin disease treatment

Cancer incidence among women has increased slightly

Americans' risk of dying from cancer continues to decline

PSA doubling time is an important indicator of how well a patient will recover from prostate cancer

New method of radiation treatment may improve the local control of breast cancer

Combining radiation, chemotherapy and liver transplantation increases survival in bile duct cancer patients

Children who survive cancer face educational difficulties and social isolation

Radiation oncologists around the country open their doors to Gulf Coast patients

Before hitting the beach, learn the signs of skin cancer

First clinical trial of a biologic nanoparticle designed to give back to cancer patients the tumor-busting gene they have lost

Women think very rationally about breast cancer surgery from their own perspectives

Nearly one-third of former brain tumor patients require special education services

Best treatment for the immobilizing trauma of spinal cord compression in metastatic cancer

Medulloblastoma irradiation may impair reading skills in young children

Good news for the hundreds of thousands of cancer patients who undergo radiation therapy

Introgen announces additional broad patent in China

Radiation helps eye cancer patients retain vision

Rate of increase in PSA value predicts risk of death following radiation therapy

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