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.

Wireless device designed to be injected into tumors tracks tumors, radiation dose

Engineers at Purdue University are creating a wireless device designed to be injected into tumors to tell doctors the precise dose of radiation received and locate the exact position of tumors during treatment.

9 Apr 2008

Childhood leukemia survivors struggle with long-term comorbidities

Survival rates of childhood cancers, especially leukemia, have improved greatly in the past three decades, but survivors of this disease still seem to face many health and lifestyle challenges as young adults.

1 Apr 2008

MRI findings help forecast prostate cancer prognosis

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in patients about to undergo radiation therapy for prostate cancer can help predict the likelihood that the cancer will return and spread post-treatment, according to a new study published in the April issue of the journal Radiology.

26 Mar 2008

New hope for children with bilateral Wilms tumors

Physicians at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have demonstrated that children with bilateral Wilms tumor, a cancer of the kidneys, can retain normal function in both kidneys by undergoing a procedure called bilateral nephron-sparing surgery, even when preoperative scans suggest that the tumors are inoperable.

25 Mar 2008

New insight into radiation damage to DNA

A new technique for assessing the damage radiation causes to DNA indicates that the spatial arrangement of damaged sites, or lesions, is more important than the number of lesions in determining the severity of the damage.

24 Mar 2008

Live demonstration of robotic radical prostatectomy

One of the nation's top robotic surgeons will remove the cancerous prostate of a Southern Tier man during a live demonstration of robotic surgery on Wednesday, March 19.

19 Mar 2008

Long-term follow-up after percutaneous pulmonary radiofrequency ablation

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) - an interventional treatment that "cooks" and kills lung cancer tumors with heat - greatly improves survival time from primary or metastatic inoperable lung tumors, according to a study released at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting.

18 Mar 2008

Study examines changes in quality of life after head and neck cancer treatment

In the year following their first treatment, patients with head and neck cancer report declines in their physical quality of life but improvements in their mental health quality of life, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

18 Mar 2008

Researchers find benefit for lymphoma patients in combined PET-CT scanning

Combined positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) imaging of lymphoma patients is a more effective method to evaluate response to radiation therapy, and may help patients avoid unnecessary follow-up treatments, a study by researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) suggests.

13 Mar 2008

Switch for programmed cell death promotes spread of glioblastoma

Malignant tumors have usually lost their ability to destroy themselves by programmed cell death, or apoptosis.

12 Mar 2008

PET/CT planning beneficial for head and neck cancer patients

Using a combination of positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography for radiation therapy treatment planning in head and neck carcinoma patients provides for excellent, local and regional disease control when compared to CT alone, according to a study in the March 1 issue of the International Journal for Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

6 Mar 2008

Chemotherapy with chemoradiation for pancreatic cancer has small survival benefit

The addition of the drug gemcitabine with chemoradiation for the treatment of patients who had surgery for pancreatic cancer was associated with a survival benefit, although this improvement was not statistically significant, according to a study in the March 5 issue of JAMA.

6 Mar 2008

Colon cancer treatment, symptoms, clinical trials

Fewer people are dying from colorectal cancer, but it remains the third deadliest form of cancer in America.

4 Mar 2008

NIU seeks approval for new proton cancer treatment and research center

Northern Illinois University has named Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation as its expected provider of clinical services for a new $160 million proton therapy cancer treatment and research center to be built in the DuPage National Technology Park about 35 miles west of Chicago.

27 Feb 2008

New radiation therapy standards needed

Modern radiation techniques result in substantial variation between the prescribed dose and the actual dose of radiation delivered to the tumor, according to a study published online February 26 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

27 Feb 2008

Siemens Healthcare announces exclusive partnership with Prowess Inc.

Siemens Healthcare announces an exclusive partnership with Prowess Inc. to develop advanced radiation oncology treatment planning software for integration into Siemens' linear accelerators.

21 Feb 2008

Gene therapy - immune system discovery may lead to effective treatment for glioblastoma multiforme

A new gene therapy approach that attracts and "trains" immune system cells to destroy deadly brain cancer cells also provides long-term immunity, produces no significant adverse effects and -- in the process of destroying the tumor -- promotes the return of normal brain function and behavioral skills, according to a study conducted by researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Board of Governors Gene Therapeutics Research Institute.

20 Feb 2008

Henry Ford Hospital expands research on gene and radiation therapy for prostate cancer

Henry Ford Hospital is embarking on an expanded major clinical trial involving the use of gene therapy in combination with radiation therapy, to determine if the combined treatment is more effective than radiation therapy alone for patients with intermediate risk prostate cancer.

7 Feb 2008

Physician characteristics are associated with quality of cancer care

Whether a woman receives radiation after breast cancer surgery may be associated with certain characteristics of her surgeon, including sex and medical training, according to a study published online January 29 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute .

31 Jan 2008

Racial and ethnic differences among patients with extremity soft-tissue sarcomas

A new study reveals significant racial and ethnic differences in the treatment and survival of patients with soft-tissue sarcomas, a rare but dangerous cancer that begins in muscle, fat, blood vessels or other supporting tissue of the body.

23 Jan 2008