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.

Rare Cells Capable of Transforming into Leukemia may Provide new Insight into Leukemic Landscape

In our latest interview, News Medical speaks to Adam G. Schrum, PhD, Associate Professor of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology and Surgery at the University of Missouri, about how dysfunction in an unusual type of thymocyte cell may develop into leukemia in some patients.

8 Jul 2022

Lung cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors can be safely vaccinated against COVID-19, study says

Cancer patients have received priority status to receive COVID-19 vaccinations but there is limited data regarding the safety and efficacy of the vaccines for patients treated for lung cancer with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

22 Jun 2022

Medical societies publish guidelines on how to treat pre-invasive lesions of the vulva

Four international medical societies have collaborated on consensus statements for physicians, published in the Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease, about how to treat pre-invasive lesions of the vulva.

21 Jun 2022

Combination of three technologies makes potential treatment effective against aggressive brain tumor

A drug carrier able to reach the brain, bind to an aggressive type of tumor called glioblastoma multiforme, and release a chemotherapeutic agent has been tested for the first time by Brazilian researchers.

15 Jun 2022

Prostate cancer treatment guidelines need to be updated, research suggests

Current guidelines used to plan salvage radiation treatments in patients with local recurrence of prostate cancer should be updated to take into consideration information derived from novel imaging modalities, such as PSMA PET, according to research presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2022 Annual Meeting.

15 Jun 2022

Native Americans have to travel large distances to access radiation therapy, study shows

Experiencing higher rates of certain cancers than non-Hispanic whites, many Native Americans have to travel especially large distances to access radiation therapy, according to a study led by Washington State University researchers.

13 Jun 2022

Inhaled recombinant IL-15 tested in pet dogs with metastatic lung disease from osteosarcoma or melanoma

A protein that the body naturally produces could become an important new immunotherapy drug in the cache of cancer-fighting tools available to oncologists.

9 Jun 2022

New discovery could pave the way for more effective cancer immunotherapy

A type of white blood cell previously known only as a helper in the immune system appears also to be the instigator of the body's defenses against cancerous tumors.

31 May 2022

New compounds for cancer immunotherapy via STING-mediated immune activation

Innovations in cancer immunotherapy have achieved clinical success by considerably increasing the survival rate of patients undergoing cancer treatment.

31 May 2022

New approach could treat brain tumors and also prevent or delay recurrences

Scientists at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center were optimistic when they identified a small molecule that blocked a key pathway in brain tumors.

27 May 2022

Combined treatment approach proves to be beneficial for prostate cancer patients

Practice-changing research from Cedars-Sinai Cancer shows that a combination of androgen deprivation therapy-;a commonly used hormone injection-;plus pelvic lymph node radiation, kept nearly 90% of clinical trial patients' prostate cancer at bay for five years.

26 May 2022

Using 'off-the-shelf' engineered stem cell based therapy for treating glioblastomas post-surgery

Glioblastomas (GBMs) are highly aggressive cancerous tumors of the brain and spinal cord. Brain cancers like GBM are challenging to treat because many cancer therapeutics cannot pass through the blood-brain barrier, and more than 90 percent of GBM tumors return after being surgically removed, despite surgery and subsequent chemo- and radiation therapy being the most successful way to treat the disease.

19 May 2022

New smoking-cessation program helps more cancer patients to quit successfully

Researchers at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a way to help more patients who want to stop smoking.

11 May 2022

New guideline provides guidance on the use of radiation therapy to treat patients with brain metastases

A new clinical guideline from the American Society for Radiation Oncology provides guidance on the use of radiation therapy to treat patients with brain metastases.

10 May 2022

Funding innovative technologies to revolutionize cancer research

In this interview, News-Medical interviews Michael Weingarten about his work as a director of the Small Business Innovation Research Development Center, helping to fund highly-innovative technologies that are revolutionizing cancer research.

3 May 2022

New findings show rise in racial disparities as availability of proton beam therapy increased in the U.S.

Two new large studies led by researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS) show an increase in the use of proton beam therapy (PBT) for patients with cancer in the United States during the past decade.

27 Apr 2022

Recipients for the 2022 NCCN Foundation Young Investigator Awards Program announced

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the NCCN Foundation today announced seven recipients for the 2022 NCCN Foundation Young Investigator Awards (YIA) Program.

25 Apr 2022

New instrument will help Columbia scientists to study heavy ion radiation therapy

Heavy ions could radically improve radiation therapy for treatment of pancreatic cancer and other difficult-to-treat tumors if researchers can better understand how the ions work against cancer.

11 Apr 2022

Novel therapy advances to clinical trial for the treatment of glioblastoma

A novel therapy studied at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) Cancer Center has led to a clinical trial for the treatment of glioblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer, yet the most common primary brain tumor in adults.

10 Apr 2022

Simple interventions reduced radiation exposure to the heart during lung cancer treatment

Radiation to the heart during treatment for locally advanced lung cancer is associated with an increased risk of major adverse cardiac events within the first two years following treatment. The higher the cardiac dose exposure, the higher the risk of a cardiac event.

8 Apr 2022