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.

Dune Medical Devices gets FDA PMA Approvable Letter for MarginProbe System

Dune Medical Devices, Inc., announced today that it has received an Approvable Letter for its Premarket Approval Application (PMA) from the Food and Drug Administration. The Approvable Letter states that the MarginProbe System PMA is approvable subject to final agreement with FDA on the design of the required Post Approval Study.

20 Nov 2012

Diffusion Pharmaceuticals completes trans sodium crocetinate Phase I trial on glioblastoma

Diffusion Pharmaceuticals LLC, a biotechnology company developing innovative cancer treatments, today announced that it has successfully completed a Phase I clinical trial of its lead compound trans sodium crocetinate (TSC) in nine patients with newly diagnosed primary brain cancer (glioblastoma or GBM).

19 Nov 2012

Gene therapy shows promise against dry mouth in cancer patients

Injecting an adenoviral vector encoding human aquaporin-1 into the parotid glands of head and neck cancer survivors improves their symptoms of dry mouth induced by radiation therapy, show study results.

15 Nov 2012

Radiotherapy protocol deviations: an interview with Dr Nitin Ohri

Radiotherapy is a key component of cancer therapy. A majority of cancer patients get radiotherapy in some form at some point in their disease course. It can be used in a curative setting or in a palliative setting.

12 Nov 2012

Mastoscopic axillary lymph node dissection can reduce breast cancer complications

Axillary lymph node dissection is done in conjunction with lumpectomy or mastectomy to determine if breast cancer has spread to the adjoining lymph nodes. The conventional surgical approach leaves a surgical scar that is unattractive and can restrict range of motion in the shoulder joint. Also, squeezing and pulling the tumor during the breast operation can stimulate tumor cell metastases.

9 Nov 2012

Mayo Clinic receives FDA approval for Choline C 11 Injection to help detect prostate cancer

Mayo Clinic has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to produce and administer Choline C 11 Injection, an imaging agent used during a positron emission tomography (PET) scan to help detect sites of recurrent prostate cancer. Mayo Clinic is the first, and currently only, institution in North America approved to produce this imaging agent.

9 Nov 2012

International Day of Radiology marks 117th anniversary of X-ray discovery

International Day of Radiology — November 8, 2012 — marks the 117th anniversary of the discovery of the X-ray and the tremendous advances in patient care made possible by radiation therapy and medical imaging exams, such as MRI and CT scans. It is also a reminder that Congress needs to pass the Diagnostic Imaging Services Access Protection Act (H.R. 3269/ S. 2347) and halt drastic cuts in Medicare funding for imaging scans. This vital legislation would preserve ready access to lifesaving imaging care and may help reduce harm to seniors already resulting from cutbacks.

8 Nov 2012

FDA clears Accuray’s new CyberKnife M6 Series

Accuray Incorporated, the premier radiation oncology company, today announced that the company received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its new CyberKnife M6 Series.

2 Nov 2012

Study shows increased risk of local recurrence in women with triple negative breast cancer

Research from The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) shows that women with triple-negative breast cancer and no more than three positive lymph nodes following a mastectomy have a higher risk of local recurrence than similar women whose disease is not classified as triple-negative.

1 Nov 2012

Varian highlights numerous lung cancer treatment systems at ASTRO meeting

Varian Medical Systems highlighted the company's technologies for the non-invasive treatment of lung cancer at the 54th annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) in Boston this week.

1 Nov 2012

Uterine cancer recurrence risk after hysterectomy increases due to delay in radiation therapy

Waiting too long after a hysterectomy to begin radiation therapy may increase the risk of uterine cancer recurrence, according to a new study from researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

31 Oct 2012

Radiation therapy protocol deviations associated with increased risk of treatment failure and overall mortality

Radiation therapy protocol deviations in clinical trials are associated with increased risk of treatment failure and overall mortality, according to a study entitled, “Radiotherapy Protocol Deviations are Associated with Inferior Clinical Outcomes: A Meta-analysis of Cooperative Group Clinical Trials” to be presented today at the 54th annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) in Boston, MA.

30 Oct 2012

Elderly women with early-stage breast cancer live longer with radiation therapy and surgery

Elderly women with early-stage breast cancer live longer with radiation therapy and surgery compared with surgery alone, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have found.

30 Oct 2012

Doxepin oral rinse relieves mouth pain from head and neck cancer treatment

30 Oct 2012

Antidepressant doxepin eases pain associated with oral mucositis

An oral rinse of the antidepressant doxepin significantly eased pain associated with oral mucositis in patients receiving radiation therapy for cancers of the head and neck, a study led by Mayo Clinic found. The findings were presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology annual meeting in Boston.

29 Oct 2012

Tumor count in the breast an important consideration for providing radiation therapy

Not all women diagnosed with operable breast cancer present with a single tumor; some have multifocal disease appear in the breast, which means multiple tumors found in the same breast quadrant, while others have multicentric disease, where multiple tumors are found in separate breast quadrants. Multifocal or multicentric disease is not a standard indication to receive radiation after mastectomy. For patients who undergo lumpectomy, radiation dose and extent is not altered based on multifocal or multicentric disease compared to patients presenting with a single tumor.

29 Oct 2012

Post-radiation drop in testosterone linked to recurrence of prostate cancer in men

Men whose testosterone drops following radiation therapy for prostate cancer are more likely to experience a change in PSA levels that signals their cancer has returned, according to new research from Fox Chase Cancer Center.

29 Oct 2012

Online resource for men diagnosed with low-grade prostate cancer launched

Johns Hopkins Medicine, along with the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, have launched the National Proactive Surveillance Network, an online resource for men diagnosed with low-grade prostate cancer that can be slow-growing and non-life-threatening in up to 50 percent of diagnosed cases.

25 Oct 2012

CINJ makes experts available during National Lung Cancer Awareness Month

According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 6,000 new cases of lung cancer are expected to be diagnosed in New Jersey this year, and 4,200 people will die from the disease.

25 Oct 2012

Focused ultrasound technology safe, effective in treating patients with tremor-dominant Parkinson's

The Focused Ultrasound Foundation today announced a new clinical trial investigating the use of focused ultrasound technology in treating patients with tremor-dominant Parkinson's disease.

25 Oct 2012

Radiation Therapy News and Research

Further Reading

Dune Medical Devices gets FDA PMA Approvable Letter for MarginProbe System

Diffusion Pharmaceuticals completes trans sodium crocetinate Phase I trial on glioblastoma

Gene therapy shows promise against dry mouth in cancer patients

Radiotherapy protocol deviations: an interview with Dr Nitin Ohri

Mastoscopic axillary lymph node dissection can reduce breast cancer complications

Mayo Clinic receives FDA approval for Choline C 11 Injection to help detect prostate cancer

International Day of Radiology marks 117th anniversary of X-ray discovery

FDA clears Accuray’s new CyberKnife M6 Series

Study shows increased risk of local recurrence in women with triple negative breast cancer

Varian highlights numerous lung cancer treatment systems at ASTRO meeting

Uterine cancer recurrence risk after hysterectomy increases due to delay in radiation therapy

Radiation therapy protocol deviations associated with increased risk of treatment failure and overall mortality

Elderly women with early-stage breast cancer live longer with radiation therapy and surgery

Doxepin oral rinse relieves mouth pain from head and neck cancer treatment

Antidepressant doxepin eases pain associated with oral mucositis

Tumor count in the breast an important consideration for providing radiation therapy

Post-radiation drop in testosterone linked to recurrence of prostate cancer in men

Online resource for men diagnosed with low-grade prostate cancer launched

CINJ makes experts available during National Lung Cancer Awareness Month

Focused ultrasound technology safe, effective in treating patients with tremor-dominant Parkinson's

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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