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.

Long-term hormone therapy does more harm than good for men with low PSAs after prostate surgery

A secondary analysis of a recent clinical trial that changed the standard of care for men with recurring prostate cancer finds long-term hormone therapy does more harm than good for many men and calls for rethinking treatment guidelines based on a patient's post-operative prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level.

26 Sep 2019

Research: Protein complex represents a new metabolic target for liver cancer

Disrupting a metabolic pathway in the liver in a way that creates a more "cancer-like" metabolism actually reduces tumor formation in a mouse model of liver cancer.

24 Sep 2019

Version of an antibiotic drug extends survival in mice with lethal pediatric brain tumors

Versions of an antibiotic drug called DON first isolated from soil bacteria more than 60 years ago have shown promising signs of extending survival in mice models of especially lethal pediatric brain tumors marked by the high expression of a cancer-causing gene known as the MYC oncogene, according to results of two studies from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

23 Sep 2019

Leukemia drug appears to be effective in treating deadly pediatric brain tumor

A drug used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia appears to be more effective at stopping a type of medulloblastoma in mouse models than existing treatments for the deadly pediatric brain tumor, reports a multi-institutional team led by researchers at Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at University of California San Diego.

21 Sep 2019

New clinical trial tests immunotherapy drug for prostate cancer patients on active surveillance

Stephenson Cancer Center Testing Drug for Prostate Cancer Patients on Active Surveillance OKLAHOMA CITY - Men who are diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer usually opt for active surveillance - a monitoring of their cancer over time without undergoing treatments that would cause side effects.

20 Sep 2019

Whole-brain radiotherapy recommended for patients with brain metastases

Patients with brain metastases who received whole-brain radiotherapy that avoided memory-specific hippocampal neural stem cells experienced preserved cognitive function and reported fewer neurologic symptoms and better cognition over time, according to results from an NRG Oncology clinical trial presented Sept. 15, 2019 at the American Society for Radiation Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago.

20 Sep 2019

Anti-cancer protein promotes tumor resistance, shows study

Areas of solid tumors that have limited access to oxygen, a condition called hypoxia, are highly resilient against chemo and radiation therapy.

20 Sep 2019

Low-dose aspirin may improve survival in patients with head and neck, lung cancers

What if a drug that sits in nearly everyone's medicine cabinet could help extend the lives of some cancer patients? In companion presentations at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiation Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago, doctors from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center report new evidence that low-dose aspirin and other anti-inflammatories may improve survival in patients undergoing treatment for some head/neck and lung cancers.

19 Sep 2019

Study examines racial disparities in survival outcomes of pediatric patients with Hodgkin lymphoma

In what is believed to be the largest dataset study to date examining the role of race on survival outcome for pediatric patients with Hodgkin lymphoma, investigators at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey have found that black patients have significantly worse overall survival at five years than white patients when accounting for all available clinical variables.

18 Sep 2019

Patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma may benefit from radiation, experience reduced side effects

Treating non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients with radiation therapy as an additional treatment while they wait for their CAR T cells to be manufactured may reduce the risk of CAR T therapy side effects once it is administered, according to a new study from researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

18 Sep 2019

IMRT and cisplatin treatment meets acceptability criteria for PFS and swallowing-related QOL

Results of the NRG Oncology clinical trial NRG-HN002 indicated that the combination of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and cisplatin was able to meet acceptability criteria for progression-free survival (PFS) and swallowing-related quality of life for patients who have p16-positive, non-smoking-associated oropharyngeal cancer.

18 Sep 2019

Clinical trial finds no difference in pain response between SBRT and cEBRT for patients with spinal metastases

A Phase III, NRG Oncology clinical trial that compared radiosurgery or stereotactic body radiotherapy to the conventional radiotherapy for patients with spinal metastases indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between the treatments for pain response, adverse events, FACT-G, BPI, and EQ-5D scores.

17 Sep 2019

Pre-SRT PSA could serve as prognostic and predictive biomarker of benefit from hormone therapy

Initial results of NRG Oncology Clinical Trial RTOG 9601 in men with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer receiving salvage radiotherapy demonstrated improvement in OS from the addition of long-term hormone therapy to SRT.

17 Sep 2019

Radiation therapy reduces episodes of deadly rapid heart rhythm

A single high dose of radiation aimed at the heart significantly reduces episodes of a potentially deadly rapid heart rhythm, according to results of a phase one/two study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

17 Sep 2019

New biomarkers help predict response to treatment in common brain tumor

Many scientists have noted that there is a link between inflammation or the immune response, and patient survival. One such possible relationship is the association of blood markers and the prognosis in the brain tumor called medulloblastoma.

16 Sep 2019

Nanoparticles activated by X rays used to target deep tumours

A team of researchers from University of Texas at Arlington, University of Rhode Island and Brown University have collaborated to come up with use of nanoparticles in targeted therapy for deep seated cancers. Their success with the nanoparticples was published in a study titled, “X-ray induced photodynamic therapy with copper-cysteamine nanoparticles in mice tumors,” was published in the latest issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

8 Sep 2019

ASTRO guideline provides recommendations on use of radiation therapy to treat pancreatic cancer

A new clinical guideline from the American Society for Radiation Oncology provides recommendations on the use of radiation therapy to treat patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, including when radiation treatments are appropriate, as well as the optimal dosing, timing and fractionation for these treatments.

4 Sep 2019

Researchers develop new model to optimize radiation therapy of brain tumors

Researchers have developed a new model to optimize radiation therapy and significantly increase the number of tumour cells killed during treatment.

4 Sep 2019

Cosmetic appearance after skin cancer therapy may differ based on treatment type

While there are several effective options for treating non-melanoma skin cancers, some may result in better cosmetic appearance after treatment, according to researchers.

4 Sep 2019

Breast cancer cells can go into sleep mode and relapse in the future

Breast cancer is one of the most aggressive types of cancers in the world. It is the commonest cause of cancer death in women worldwide, and it represented about 12 percent of all new cancer cases in 2012. Current predictions and statistics suggest that both worldwide incidence of breast cancer and related mortality are on the rise. Globally, breast cancer now represents one in four of all cancers in women.

3 Sep 2019

Radiation Therapy News and Research

Further Reading

Long-term hormone therapy does more harm than good for men with low PSAs after prostate surgery

Research: Protein complex represents a new metabolic target for liver cancer

Version of an antibiotic drug extends survival in mice with lethal pediatric brain tumors

Leukemia drug appears to be effective in treating deadly pediatric brain tumor

New clinical trial tests immunotherapy drug for prostate cancer patients on active surveillance

Whole-brain radiotherapy recommended for patients with brain metastases

Anti-cancer protein promotes tumor resistance, shows study

Low-dose aspirin may improve survival in patients with head and neck, lung cancers

Study examines racial disparities in survival outcomes of pediatric patients with Hodgkin lymphoma

Patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma may benefit from radiation, experience reduced side effects

IMRT and cisplatin treatment meets acceptability criteria for PFS and swallowing-related QOL

Clinical trial finds no difference in pain response between SBRT and cEBRT for patients with spinal metastases

Pre-SRT PSA could serve as prognostic and predictive biomarker of benefit from hormone therapy

Radiation therapy reduces episodes of deadly rapid heart rhythm

New biomarkers help predict response to treatment in common brain tumor

Nanoparticles activated by X rays used to target deep tumours

ASTRO guideline provides recommendations on use of radiation therapy to treat pancreatic cancer

Researchers develop new model to optimize radiation therapy of brain tumors

Cosmetic appearance after skin cancer therapy may differ based on treatment type

Breast cancer cells can go into sleep mode and relapse in the future

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