Brachytherapy News and Research

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Brachytherapy is a minimally invasive procedure that involves the use of radioactive seeds the size of rice grains. Brachytherapy, an out-patient procedure, usually takes 45 minutes to an hour to perform. Most patients can return to their normal activities within days. The success rates of prostate brachytherapy have compared favorably with success rates of radical prostatectomy and external beam radiation. In comparison studies, prostate brachytherapy has shown to have a favorable side effect profile when compared with other modalities. Clinical studies have shown that prostate brachytherapy has a cure rate of 94% for appropriately selected patients.

EBRT provides higher breast preservation rate in women with invasive breast cancer

Standard external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) provided a higher breast preservation rate than brachytherapy in women age 66 and older with invasive breast cancer, according to a study published in the February 1, 2014 print edition of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology ● Biology ● Physics (Red Journal), the official scientific journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

30 Jan 2014

Prostate cancer patients treated with ADT experience mental, emotional well-being during treatment

A new study published in the Journal of Urology- reports that prostate cancer patients treated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) experienced changes in mental and emotional well-being during treatment, although there was no meaningful decline in emotional quality of life two years after treatment.

24 Jan 2014

Varian Medical Systems' updated ProBeam proton therapy system gets FDA clearance

Varian Medical Systems has received FDA 510(k) clearance for its updated ProBeam proton therapy system.

15 Jan 2014

China's Health Department of the People's Liberation Army orders clinical solutions from Elekta

To help manage the growing incidence of cancer, China's Health Department of the People's Liberation Army has ordered a comprehensive range of clinical solutions from Elekta. Fourteen hospitals around the country will receive in total 15 linear accelerators (linacs).

From Elekta 2 Jan 2014

Elekta to launch MOSAIQ oncology information system throughout McLaren's cancer network

The ability to effectively manage data across disparate health systems to help drive quality care will be a cornerstone for health systems of the future. Elekta is proud to announce today that it has joined forces with Michigan-based McLaren Health Care to launch MOSAIQ oncology information system throughout McLaren's cancer network.

From Elekta 18 Dec 2013

Elekta and McLaren Health Care to launch MOSAIQ oncology information system

The ability to effectively manage data across disparate health systems to help drive quality care will be a cornerstone for health systems of the future. Elekta is proud to announce today that it has joined forces with Michigan-based McLaren Health Care to launch MOSAIQ® oncology information system throughout McLaren's cancer network.

From Elekta 18 Dec 2013

Nucletron installs first Esteya electronic brachytherapy system for skin cancer treatment

The first Esteya electronic brachytherapy system in the United States has been installed at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Esteya by Nucletron, an Elekta company, is a new approach for skin cancer treatment that relies on a small, high dose rate (HDR) X-ray source to apply high precision radiotherapy directly to the cancer site.

From Elekta 16 Dec 2013

Experts develop innovative technologies to improve healthcare and border security

With a solemn ceremony organized on December 11, 2013 NCBJ concluded the 85.5 million PLN worth "AiD" R&D project co-financed by European Union. Project outcomes include 3 demonstrators of innovative medical devices (Coline 6, IntraLine, and InLine PN50) and 2 demonstrators of cargo scanners developed to improve security at European border crossing checkpoints (SWAN and CANIS).

13 Dec 2013

C4 Imaging receives FDA clearance for Sirius MRI Marker

C4 Imaging LLC is pleased to announce U.S. Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance of its first product, the Sirius™ MRI Marker. The novel Positive-Signal MRI Marker will be used following treatment of prostate cancer with brachytherapy to facilitate seed localization within the prostate, utilizing a single post-implant Magnetic Resonance imaging procedure.

6 Dec 2013

Advanced prostate cancer therapies: an interview with Dr. Nancy Dawson, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center

The prostate gland produces part of the seminal fluid that protects sperm. It is located in front of the rectum and under the bladder, and surrounds the urethra, the tube through which urine flows from the bladder to and out of the penis.

6 Nov 2013

Financial interests ‘driving IMRT uptake for prostate cancer’

A study suggests that the recent rapid uptake of intensity-modulated radiotherapy for prostate cancer in the USA has been driven by urologists with financial conflicts of interest.

5 Nov 2013

Nanomedicine Award winners officially announced at BIO-Europe conference

The winners of the first ever Nanomedicine Award were officially announced during the Nanomedicine Panel at BIO-Europe conference in Vienna, November 4th 2013. The Award review Board agreed to distinguish two projects in two different categories: The winners are Endomagnetics Ltd in the nanodiagnostic category and the I-CARE project from Linköping University in the regenerative medicine category.

4 Nov 2013

Men treated by self-referring urologists more likely to undergo unnecessary IMRT

A comprehensive review of Medicare claims for more than 45,000 patients from 2005 through 2010 found that nearly all of the 146 percent increase in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for prostate cancer among urologists with an ownership interest in the treatment was due to self-referral, according to new research, "Urologists' Use of Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer," released today in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) for its October 24, 2013 issue.

25 Oct 2013

Use of IMRT for prostate cancer doubles when self-referral's financial incentives involved

A comprehensive review of Medicare claims for more than 45,000 patients from 2005 through 2010 found that nearly all of the 146 percent increase in intensity-modulated radiation therapy for prostate cancer among urologists with an ownership interest in the treatment was due to self-referral, according to new research, "Urologists' Use of Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer," released today in The New England Journal of Medicine for its October 24, 2013 issue.

25 Oct 2013

HM Hospitales expects to treat first patients with Elekta's Versa HD system in 2015

HM Hospitales, a private hospital group in Spain, anticipates treating its first patients with Elekta's Versa HD™ system in 2015. Versa HD, to be sited in the group's sixth hospital, is an advanced radiation treatment system designed to enhance the management of cancer care and treat a broad spectrum of tumors throughout the body.

From Elekta 24 Oct 2013

Esteya system for high precision skin cancer treatment gets FDA clearance

Esteya, an electronic brachytherapy system, has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, enabling medical centers in the United States to offer their patients with skin cancer a new treatment option.

From Elekta 2 Oct 2013

Cisplatin plus radiotherapy and HDRB proves beneficial in stage IIIB cervical cancer

Adding the chemotherapy drug cisplatin to a treatment plan of radiation therapy (RT) and high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDRB) for stage IIIB cervical cancer is beneficial, according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO's) 55th Annual Meeting.

24 Sep 2013

Elekta gets CE Mark approval for Clarity 4D Monitoring system

Elekta has received CE marking for its Clarity 4D Monitoring system permitting European clinics to implement this new way of reducing the uncertainty caused by prostate motion during radiation treatment. Physicians will be able to monitor the motion of the prostate with sub millimeter accuracy during the delivery of therapeutic radiation beams.

From Elekta 19 Jul 2013

Men with low-risk prostate cancers can choose watchful waiting for better quality of life, study says

Many men with low-risk, localized prostate cancers can safely choose active surveillance or "watchful waiting" instead of undergoing immediate treatment and have better quality of life while reducing health care costs, according to a study by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital.

18 Jun 2013

Researchers to receive ASTRO Gold Medal for outstanding contributions to the field of radiation oncology

The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) will award Amato J. Giaccia, PhD, Radhe Mohan, PhD, FASTRO, and Prabhakar Tripuraneni, MD, FASTRO, with the Society's highest honor—the ASTRO Gold Medal. The 2013 awardees will receive the ASTRO Gold Medal during the Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, September 24, at ASTRO's 55th Annual Meeting, September 22-25, 2013, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

5 Jun 2013