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.

Low risk prostate cancer not always low risk

More and more men who believe they have low-risk prostate cancers are opting for active surveillance, forgoing treatment and monitoring the cancer closely with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests, digital rectal exams and ultrasounds at regular intervals to see if their tumors are growing. Nearly 400 men are now enrolled in the UCLA Active Surveillance program, the largest in Southern California.

19 May 2014

University of Chicago receives $3.9M award to serve as Lead Academic Participating Site for NCTN

A team from the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center has received a five-year, $3.9-million award from the National Cancer Institute to serve as a Lead Academic Participating Site for the newly created National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN).

13 May 2014

Treating older men with early-stage prostate cancer does not help live longer

Treating older men with early-stage prostate cancer who also have other serious underlying health problems with aggressive therapies such as surgery or radiation therapy does not help them live longer and, in fact, can be detrimental, according to a study by UCLA researchers.

13 May 2014

Comer Children's Hospital offers high-dose radiation therapy for relapsed neuroblastoma

The University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital has become the first in Illinois to offer pioneering, targeted, high-dose, intravenous radiation therapy for relapsed neuroblastoma and other difficult-to-treat cancers.

9 May 2014

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center finds novel treatment to keep lung cancer at bay

An old idea of retreating lung tumors with radiation is new again, especially with the technological advances seen in radiation oncology over the last decade.

9 May 2014

MRI-guided focused ultrasound to treat pain from bone metastases

InSightec Ltd, the leader in magnetic resonance imaging guided Focused Ultrasound therapy (MRgFUS), announced that the results of its ExAblate® Phase III clinical trial for treating painful bone metastases have been published online in the JNCI, Journal of National Cancer Institute.

8 May 2014

Protein molecule seems to slow progression of deadly lung disease

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have discovered a protein molecule that seems to slow the progression of pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive lung disease that is often fatal three to five years after diagnosis.

7 May 2014

New phase III clinical trial shows non-invasive focused ultrasound treatment relieves cancer pain

When cancer progresses and spreads to the bone, patients often suffer debilitating pain. Now, a new phase III clinical trial shows that non-invasive magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound treatment that heats the cancer within the bone, relieves pain and improves function for most patients when other treatment options are limited.

6 May 2014

Scientists develop bone marrow-on-a-chip to test effects of new drugs, toxic agents on bone marrow

The latest organ-on-a-chip from Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering reproduces the structure, functions and cellular make-up of bone marrow, a complex tissue that until now could only be studied intact in living animals, Institute researchers report in the May 4, 2014, online issue of Nature Methods.

6 May 2014

Medical physicists find new ways to use speed of video game processors to improve patient care

Medical physicists at UT Southwestern Medical Center are finding new ways to use the speed of video game processors to promote research that is aimed at improving patient care.

2 May 2014

$RTOG 9003: Hyperfractionated RT improves overall survival in patients with head and neck cancer$

RTOG 9003: Hyperfractionated RT improves overall survival in patients with head and neck cancer

Patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck treated with hyperfractionated radiation therapy (HFX) experienced improved local-regional control and, with patients censored at five years, improved overall survival with no increase in late toxicity, according to a study published in the May 1, 2014 edition of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology ● Biology ● Physics (Red Journal), the official scientific journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

2 May 2014

ASTRO’s guideline details use of adjuvant radiation therapy in treatment of endometrial cancer

The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has issued a new guideline, "The Role of Postoperative Radiation Therapy for Endometrial Cancer: An ASTRO Evidence-Based Guideline," that details the use of adjuvant radiation therapy in the treatment of endometrial cancer.

25 Apr 2014

Symposium focused on Surefire Medical's COSY clinical trial to be held at ECIO meeting

Surefire Medical, Inc. announced that a symposium focused on the Coiling vs. Surefire Infusion System in Y90 (COSY) clinical trial will be held during the European Conference on Interventional Oncology (ECIO) meeting taking place in Berlin, Germany April 23-26. T

23 Apr 2014

Researchers recommend early colorectal cancer screening guidelines for cervical cancer survivors

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston are the first to recommend that young women treated with radiation for cervical cancer should begin colorectal cancer screening earlier than traditionally recommended.

17 Apr 2014

Adjuvant radiotherapy after prostatectomy ‘risks urinary incontinence’

Men who receive adjuvant radiation therapy following radical prostatectomy face a significantly increased risk of urinary incontinence in the following years, study findings indicate.

14 Apr 2014

Research shows blocking DNA repair improves radiation therapy for glioblastomas

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have demonstrated in both cancer cell lines and in mice that blocking critical DNA repair mechanisms could improve the effectiveness of radiation therapy for highly fatal brain tumors called glioblastomas.

9 Apr 2014

Herpes simplex viral therapy in conjunction with radiation proves effective in treating malignant gliomas

Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham report a genetically engineered herpes simplex viral therapy is safe when used in conjunction with radiation in the treatment of malignant gliomas, one of the most deadly forms of brain cancer.

9 Apr 2014

6 months of hormonal treatment in addition to radiotherapy improves outcome for prostate cancer

Vienna, Austria: Men with prostate cancer that is small and confined to the prostate gland but that is at risk of growing and spreading, do better if they are treated with radiotherapy combined with androgen deprivation therapy, which lowers their levels of the male hormone, testosterone, according to new research.

7 Apr 2014

Researchers use ultrasound to destroy cancerous tissue in brain

Researchers in Zurich, Switzerland have successfully used focused ultrasound for the first time to non-invasively ablate part of a recurrent glioma tumor through a patient's intact skull.

7 Apr 2014

Helium ion radiotherapy provides hope for improved, accurate radiation treatment for young cancer patients

For the first time, researchers have been able to demonstrate that the use of helium ions in radiation therapy could provide accurate treatment to tumours while helping to spare healthy organs.

7 Apr 2014

Radiation Therapy News and Research

Further Reading

Low risk prostate cancer not always low risk

University of Chicago receives $3.9M award to serve as Lead Academic Participating Site for NCTN

Treating older men with early-stage prostate cancer does not help live longer

Comer Children's Hospital offers high-dose radiation therapy for relapsed neuroblastoma

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center finds novel treatment to keep lung cancer at bay

MRI-guided focused ultrasound to treat pain from bone metastases

Protein molecule seems to slow progression of deadly lung disease

New phase III clinical trial shows non-invasive focused ultrasound treatment relieves cancer pain

Scientists develop bone marrow-on-a-chip to test effects of new drugs, toxic agents on bone marrow

Medical physicists find new ways to use speed of video game processors to improve patient care

RTOG 9003: Hyperfractionated RT improves overall survival in patients with head and neck cancer

ASTRO’s guideline details use of adjuvant radiation therapy in treatment of endometrial cancer

Symposium focused on Surefire Medical's COSY clinical trial to be held at ECIO meeting

Researchers recommend early colorectal cancer screening guidelines for cervical cancer survivors

Adjuvant radiotherapy after prostatectomy ‘risks urinary incontinence’

Research shows blocking DNA repair improves radiation therapy for glioblastomas

Herpes simplex viral therapy in conjunction with radiation proves effective in treating malignant gliomas

6 months of hormonal treatment in addition to radiotherapy improves outcome for prostate cancer

Researchers use ultrasound to destroy cancerous tissue in brain

Helium ion radiotherapy provides hope for improved, accurate radiation treatment for young cancer patients

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

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