Radiotherapy News and Research

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Radiation therapy (in North America), or radiotherapy (in the UK and Australia) also called radiation oncology, and sometimes abbreviated to XRT, is the medical use of ionizing radiation as part of cancer treatment to control malignant cells (not to be confused with radiology, the use of radiation in medical imaging and diagnosis).

Vismodegib drug shows no addded benefit in advanced or symptomatic metastatic BCC patients

Vismodegib (trade name: Erivedge) has already been approved since 2013 for the treatment of patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma (BCC) or symptomatic metastatic BCC and has already undergone an early benefit assessment according to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products.

28 May 2016

Gene expression patterns of normal tissue may predict survival rates of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer patients

Breast tissue surrounding tumors could be used to gauge future survival outcomes for women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, a study led by University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers has found.

27 May 2016

Combining vitamin A with chemotherapy may offer promise for pancreatic cancer treatment

Around 8,800 people in the UK are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year. It is known as the UK's deadliest cancer, with a survival rate of just 3 per cent. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy alone are relatively unsuccessful in treating the disease, and while surgery to remove the tumour offers the best chance of survival, most patients are diagnosed when the cancer has already spread to other organs.

25 May 2016

New Rutgers research aims at exploring gender differences in lung cancer

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women. Lung cancer diagnoses have more than doubled among females in the past 38 years, while having fallen 29 percent among males, according to the American Lung Association.

25 May 2016

Nanoparticles of ultrapure silicon act as luminescent markers in early diagnosis of cancer

The group of Russian and French researchers, with the participation of scientists from the Lomonosov Moscow State University, has succeeded to synthesize nanoparticles of ultrapure silicon, which exhibited the property of efficient photoluminescence, i.e., secondary light emission after photoexcitation.

22 May 2016

Study assesses utility of tumor cfDNA as predictor of therapeutic response to immunotherapy

Chronix Biomedical, Inc., a developer of blood-based molecular diagnostics, today announces positive data from a blinded proof of concept clinical study, assessing the utility of tumor cell-free DNA as a predictor of therapeutic response to immunotherapy after the first cycle of treatment in eight different types of cancer.

20 May 2016

Clinicians perform UK’s first MRI-guided focused ultrasound treatment for prostate cancer

INSIGHTEC congratulates the medical team at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust for performing the first MR-guided focused ultrasound treatment in the United Kingdom for prostate cancer.

19 May 2016

Gene therapy shows promise in treating glioblastoma

A team from the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste has obtained very promising results by applying gene therapy to glioblastoma.

13 May 2016

Single breath-hold for more than five minutes could make targeted radiotherapy feasible

Researchers at the University of Birmingham working with clinical teams at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust have successfully shown for the first time that breast cancer patients can be trained to achieve single prolonged breath holds of over five minutes, opening the door for targeted radiotherapy to be administered with just one dose in each daily session.

12 May 2016

Lawson Health scientists capture prostate cancer images using unique molecule

Scientists at Lawson Health Research Institute are the first in Canada to capture prostate cancer images using a new molecule. Known as a Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) probe, the new molecule is used in Positron Emissions Tomography (PET) scans.

11 May 2016

Ga-68 DOTATATE PET/CT scans more effective than current imaging standard for detecting NETS

A recent study reported in the May issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine demonstrates that Ga-68 DOTATATE PET/CT scans are superior to In-111 pentetreotide scans, the current imaging standard in the United States for detecting neuroendocrine tumors, and could significantly impact treatment management.

10 May 2016

Combination of hormone therapy and radiotherapy halves risk of death from prostate cancer

A longitudinal Nordic study, comparing the results of hormone (antiandrogen) therapy with or without the addition of local radiotherapy, shows that a combination of treatments halves the risk of death from prostate cancer 15 years after diagnosis. This according to a follow-up study recently published in the journal European Urology.

10 May 2016

Patient-oriented online health resources can impact clinical outcomes of pancreatic cancer patients

The Internet has become a powerful and important resource for daily life. When patients receive a medical diagnosis, particularly a difficult one like pancreatic cancer, the web can be an essential information tool, helping to enable patients to have meaningful discussions with health care providers. However, new research from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center published today in JAMA Surgery suggests that online information about pancreatic cancer is often written at a prohibitively high reading level and lacks accuracy concerning alternative therapies.

6 May 2016

Addition of L19-IL2 can increase radiation therapy-induced immune response against tumours

Radiation therapy not only kills cancer cells, but also helps to activate the immune system against their future proliferation. However, this immune response is often not strong enough to be able to cure tumours, and even when it is, its effect is limited to the area that has been irradiated.

2 May 2016

Stereotactic body radiation therapy for NSCLC patients may raise non-cancer mortality risk

Researchers have found that treating patients who have early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with a type of radiotherapy called stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is associated with a small but increased risk of death from causes other than cancer.

2 May 2016

Radiation therapy better than chemotherapy for stage IIa testicular cancer patients

A large study of testicular cancer patients has shown that radiation therapy is a better treatment than chemotherapy for patients with stage IIa disease (where one or more regional lymph nodes contain cancer cells but they are less than 2cms in diameter).

2 May 2016

New form of SBRT to deliver radiation to specific area of prostate cancer

University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center physicians have started the world's first clinical trial using a new form of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) to deliver radiation to a specific area of the prostate invaded with cancer - instead of the entire gland. The study aims to determine if treating a targeted cancer region within the prostate in early stage prostate cancer can increase treatment options and reduce the side effects of radiation.

28 Apr 2016

Single dose of intraoperative radiotherapy effective for early stage breast cancer patients

In the South East of England, a patient experience study of 18 early stage breast cancer patients who opted for single dose intraoperative radiotherapy, found positive patient reported outcomes for this alternative to standard daily external beam radiotherapy.

21 Apr 2016

Nivolumab drug shows survival benefit in phase III trial of patients with head and neck cancer

The immunotherapy drug nivolumab has become the first to show a survival benefit in head and neck cancer, after a major international trial found that it was more effective than standard chemotherapy.

20 Apr 2016

SBRT for prostate cancer treatment offers higher cure rate than many traditional approaches

A five-year study shows that Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) to treat prostate cancer offers a higher cure rate than more traditional approaches, according to researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center.

19 Apr 2016

Radiotherapy News and Research

Further Reading

Vismodegib drug shows no addded benefit in advanced or symptomatic metastatic BCC patients

Gene expression patterns of normal tissue may predict survival rates of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer patients

Combining vitamin A with chemotherapy may offer promise for pancreatic cancer treatment

New Rutgers research aims at exploring gender differences in lung cancer

Nanoparticles of ultrapure silicon act as luminescent markers in early diagnosis of cancer

Study assesses utility of tumor cfDNA as predictor of therapeutic response to immunotherapy

Clinicians perform UK’s first MRI-guided focused ultrasound treatment for prostate cancer

Gene therapy shows promise in treating glioblastoma

Single breath-hold for more than five minutes could make targeted radiotherapy feasible

Lawson Health scientists capture prostate cancer images using unique molecule

Ga-68 DOTATATE PET/CT scans more effective than current imaging standard for detecting NETS

Combination of hormone therapy and radiotherapy halves risk of death from prostate cancer

Patient-oriented online health resources can impact clinical outcomes of pancreatic cancer patients

Addition of L19-IL2 can increase radiation therapy-induced immune response against tumours

Stereotactic body radiation therapy for NSCLC patients may raise non-cancer mortality risk

Radiation therapy better than chemotherapy for stage IIa testicular cancer patients

New form of SBRT to deliver radiation to specific area of prostate cancer

Single dose of intraoperative radiotherapy effective for early stage breast cancer patients

Nivolumab drug shows survival benefit in phase III trial of patients with head and neck cancer

SBRT for prostate cancer treatment offers higher cure rate than many traditional approaches

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