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.

Study: Site of care could determine patients' access to palliative treatment

For patients at the end of life, palliative care can prolong survival and improve the quality of life for patients with a life-threatening illness and for their families.

4 Feb 2019

Autologous breast reconstruction after failed implant reconstruction gives good outcomes

Implants are usually the first choice for breast reconstruction after mastectomy. But when implant-based reconstruction fails, autologous reconstruction - using the patient's own tissues - is a safe procedure that improves patient outcomes, reports a study in the February issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

31 Jan 2019

Nine early career scientists named 2019 recipients of the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation announced that nine scientists with novel approaches to fighting cancer have been named 2019 recipients of the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award.

24 Jan 2019

Hepatitis C-infected patients with a history of liver cancer can be treated with antivirals

A large, multi-center study refutes earlier suggestions that antiviral drugs for treating hepatitis C may lead to a higher recurrence of liver cancer.

18 Jan 2019

First patient enrolled in pancreatic cancer clinical trial

The Henry Ford Cancer Institute announced today it has enrolled the first patient in a new clinical trial to test the effectiveness of using precise, higher dose MRI-guided radiation therapy to treat pancreatic cancer.

7 Jan 2019

Study of rare uterine sarcoma reveals clinically relevant molecular subtypes

Undifferentiated uterine sarcoma is a very rare but extremely aggressive cancer type. It can be divided into four groups with different characteristics of clinical importance - a new study at Karolinska Institutet reveals.

7 Jan 2019

Molecular signatures reveal why women are more likely to die from glioblastoma

Scientists have discovered molecular signatures that reveal why women are more likely to develop and die from the brain cancer, glioblastoma.

2 Jan 2019

CWRU researcher receives nearly $1 million to study drug resistance mechanisms in prostate cancer

Sanjay Gupta, PhD, of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center will receive $962,000 over three years to investigate drug resistance mechanisms in prostate cancer.

24 Dec 2018

Interval of time to biochemical failure could be used as surrogate endpoint for prostate cancer

An analysis of the NRG Oncology clinical trial NRG-RTOG 9202 showed that the interval of time to biochemical failure, or the time it takes for previously treated cancer to return as indicated by prostate specific antigen rise, could be used as a surrogate endpoint for locally advanced prostate cancer.

21 Dec 2018

Scientists investigate potential of nanomaterials to activate the body's antitumor immune response

The importance of research into the role of the immune system in the development and therapy of oncological diseases was emphasized by the Royal Swedish Academy, which recently named James Allison and Tasuku Honjo recipients of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for launching an effective new way to attack cancer by treating the immune system rather than the tumor.

20 Dec 2018

UMGCCC uses Gammapod radiotherapy to treat breast cancer patients

Radiation oncologists at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center are now treating patients with the GammaPod™, a new FDA-cleared radiation therapy for early-stage breast cancer.

6 Dec 2018

Protecting powerhouse of cells could provide better way to treat acute kidney injury

For the first time, scientists have described the body's natural mechanism for temporarily protecting the powerhouses of kidney cells when injury or disease means they aren't getting enough blood or oxygen.

6 Dec 2018

Study presents new opportunities for targeted, healthy tissue-sparing cancer therapy

Medical physicist Dr. Aswin Hoffmann and his team from the Institute of Radiooncology - OncoRay at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) are the first researchers worldwide to combine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a proton beam, thus demonstrating that in principle, this commonly used imaging method can indeed work with particle beam cancer treatments.

29 Nov 2018

New accelerator-based technology aims to reduce side effects of cancer radiation therapy

New accelerator-based technology being developed by the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University aims to reduce the side effects of cancer radiation therapy by shrinking its duration from minutes to under a second.

29 Nov 2018

New method could improve outcome of leukemia patients receiving stem-cell transplants

Stem-cell transplantation is an effective form of therapy to fight leukemia. In many cases, however, the transferred immune cells of the donor also attack the recipients' healthy tissue - often with fatal consequences.

28 Nov 2018

Blocking activity of plasma protein can be possible way to protect against radiation-induced injury

It is possible to prevent certain injuries that can occur in radiation therapy against cancer. By blocking the activity of a plasma protein during and immediately after radiation, the patient can be protected against injury. This is shown in a new doctoral thesis at Umeå University, Sweden.

20 Nov 2018

New methods for preserving shoulder function, quality of life in breast cancer patients

After a prophylactic double mastectomy in 2015, Tina Harrison discovered that she did, indeed, have breast cancer--it just hadn't been detected.

19 Nov 2018

NIH awards over $1.8 million to husband-and-wife doctors to test new breast cancer approach

Husband-and-wife doctors at the University of Virginia Cancer Center have been awarded more than $1.8 million from the National Institutes of Health for their effort to improve radiation therapy and breast surgery for patients with early-stage breast cancer.

16 Nov 2018

New edition of Red Journal focuses on roles of imaging in radiation oncology

A new special edition of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology* Biology* Physics focuses on the roles of imaging in radiation oncology. The collection explores topics such as improving accuracy with patient positioning, defining radiation therapy volumes using imaging, imaging of functional biomarkers, the role of imaging in post-treatment care, machine learning and artificial intelligence.

15 Nov 2018

Scientists develop new method to produce irradiated nanomaterials for medical applications

Under the leadership of Petr Cígler from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry and Martin Hrubý from the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, both of which are part of the Czech Academy of Sciences, a team of researchers has developed a revolutionary method for the easy and inexpensive production of irradiated nanodiamonds and other nanomaterials suitable for use in highly sensitive diagnostics of diseases, including various types of cancer.

12 Nov 2018