External beam radiotherapy otherwise known as teletherapy, is the most frequently used form of radiotherapy. The patient sits or lies on a couch and an external source of radiation is pointed at a particular part of the body. Kilovoltage (also known as, superficial) x-rays are used for treating skin cancer and superficial structures. Megavoltage (or deep) X-rays are used to treat deep-seated tumours (eg bladder, bowel, prostate, lung, brain).
New research indicates that many UK patients don't receive adequate information about treatment-induced sexual dysfunction before, during, and after radiotherapy treatment for prostate cancer.
Results of a large study led by UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers could help guide treatment planning for patients with high-risk prostate cancer.
Men with high-risk prostate cancer with at least one additional aggressive feature have the best outcomes when treated with multiple healthcare disciplines, known as multimodality care, according to a UCLA study led by Dr. Amar Kishan, assistant professor of radiation oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a researcher at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Patients with locally advanced cervical cancer benefit significantly from an innovative radiotherapy technique co-developed by MedUni Vienna under the direction of Richard Pötter and Christian Kirisits. The technique provides better tumor control and produces fewer side-effects.
Researchers involved in the phase II NRG Oncology RTOG 0526 trial studying low dose rate (LDR) prostate brachytherapy (BT) following local recurrence (LR) after external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) for patients with low-to-intermediate risk prostate cancer reported late Grade 3 gastrointestinal and genitourinary adverse events (AEs) occurring in 14% of trial participants.
Newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients have multiple standard-of-care treatment options available, but many are not fully informed of their choices.
A Phase III, NRG Oncology clinical trial that compared radiosurgery or stereotactic body radiotherapy to the conventional radiotherapy for patients with spinal metastases indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between the treatments for pain response, adverse events, FACT-G, BPI, and EQ-5D scores.
A new way of concentrating radiotherapy dose in tumours, while minimising damage to healthy cells, has been proposed in research led by scientists at the University of Strathclyde.
UK doctors and surgeons have formulated what is probably the world's first clinical guidance on anal sex before, during, and after diagnosis and treatment for prostate cancer.
Women with early, low risk, hormone-driven breast cancer are less likely to have a recurrence of their disease if they have radiotherapy after surgery, as well as anti-hormone treatment, according to results from a trial that has followed 869 women for ten years.
Interstitial brachytherapy uses slightly radioactive particles implanted into the prostate to deliver radiation directly to the tumour (low-dose-rate, LDR).
A subset of patients with low-risk breast cancer is highly unlikely to see cancer return following breast conservation surgery but can lower that risk even further with radiation therapy, finds a new long-term clinical trial report.
A coveted British Medical Journal award was recently bestowed on the Papillon Contact X-ray Brachytherapy team at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. The Cancer Care Team of the year category was won by the entry—Papillon for Rectal Cancer.
NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) has announced a new Medtech Innovation Briefing (MIB) stating that NHS doctors and commissioners may consider Single Dose Intraoperative Radiotherapy (SD-IORT) using the Xoft Axxent electronic brachytherapy system with ORL managed service as a treatment option for early stage breast cancer patients.
The American Society for Radiation Oncology recently issued a new clinical practice statement, "Appropriate Customization of Radiation Therapy for Stage II and III Rectal Cancer: An ASTRO Clinical Practice Statement Using the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method."
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.
Hitachi, Ltd. has announced it has received FDA 510(k) clearance for commercial supply of the new PROBEAT-V system, which it designed and developed for Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Treatments began in late June and the first patient treatment was completed in August 2015.
The University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) is the first Higher Education Institution (HEI) in the UK to sign up for the very latest version of a powerful simulated Radiotherapy Treatment Planning System (RTPS), which has been futureproofed.
Results from a randomised controlled trial to compare the use of permanent radioactive implants (brachytherapy) with dose-escalated external beam radiotherapy in patients with prostate cancer show that the men who received brachytherapy were twice as likely to be cancer-free five years later.
Agenus Inc., announced final results from a single-arm, multi-institutional, open-label, Phase 2 study showing that patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) who received Agenus' Prophage autologous cancer vaccine added to the standard of care treatment, lived nearly twice as long as expected.