Radiotherapy News and Research

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Radiation therapy (in North America), or radiotherapy (in the UK and Australia) also called radiation oncology, and sometimes abbreviated to XRT, is the medical use of ionizing radiation as part of cancer treatment to control malignant cells (not to be confused with radiology, the use of radiation in medical imaging and diagnosis).

Cancer treatment by linear accelerator is a reality now in India

The first patient was successfully treated by the state-of-the-art technology in radiotherapy - linear accelerator, which began functioning last week at RR Cancer Institute and Research Centre, Sri Ram Murti Smarak Institute of Medical Sciences (SRMSIMS), Bareilly in India.

5 Oct 2008

Benefits of combined treatments against cancer

In cancer therapy, the best results are often achieved by combining treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery. This multidisciplinary approach is the focus of special symposia at the meetings of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology (ESTRO) taking place in Sweden this month.

16 Sep 2008

European disparities in access to cancer drugs

New research has highlighted stark disparities in access to the latest cancer drugs across European Union nations, according to data presented at the 33rd Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) in Stockholm.

15 Sep 2008

Exercise reduces damage after therapeutic irradiation to the brain

Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy in Gothenburg show for the first time that exercise helps restore stem cell growth and improves behavior in young mice that suffered damage to the brain induced by a clinically relevant dose of radiation. The researchers believe that these results are also applicable to children that have suffered damage due to radiotherapy of brain tumors.

3 Sep 2008

Precisely targeted radiation therapy can control limited cancer spread

Precisely targeted radiation therapy can eradicate all evidence of disease in selected patients with cancer that has spread to only a few sites, suggests the first published report from an ongoing clinical trial.

12 Aug 2008

Medulloblastoma in children - two studies find clues to treatment

Medulloblastoma is one of the most common and most malignant brain tumours among children and teenagers. These tumours grow very rapidly, and fifty percent of patients in the long term die from the condition. The details of the processes that lead to the growth of these tumours have remained unknown until now.

12 Aug 2008

Findings may aid in bone marrow transplants, blood diseases

New research sheds light on the biological events by which stem cells in the bone marrow develop into the broad variety of cells that circulate in the blood. The findings may help improve the success of bone marrow transplants and develop better treatments for life-threatening blood diseases.

5 Aug 2008

High dose shot of vitamin C halts the spread of cancer

According to scientists in the U.S., a high dose of vitamin C given in the form of an injection may halt the spread of cancers.

4 Aug 2008

Hospital error resulted in 17 cancer patients wrongly told they were clear

A National Health Service (NHS) hospital in Britain has admitted that due to an administrative error, 17 cancer patients were given the all-clear only to be later told that they still had cancer.

3 Aug 2008

Smoking among child cancer survivors highest in most at risk group

Childhood cancer survivors who are most at risk of developing a second cancer are more likely to smoke than other childhood cancer survivors - reveals a Cancer Research UK study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

3 Aug 2008

Laboratory and mouse studies show targeted drug blocks the growth of breast cancer cells that spread to the brain

Using laboratory and mouse models of human breast cancer, researchers have found that a small molecule capable of targeting specific proteins on the surface of breast cancer cells can inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells that migrate to the brain.

29 Jul 2008

Former cancer patient says radiation bungle shows flaw in the health system

Assurances from the Australian Medical Association (AMA) that cancer patients at the Royal Adelaide Hospital are at a minimal risk from an inadvertent 5 per cent reduction in their prescribed radiation dosage between 2004 to 2006, may reassure some but many former patients will still be worried.

28 Jul 2008

A search for the best prostate cancer treatment

A new Cancer Research UK clinical trial has been launched to investigate the best treatment options for men who have had surgery for early stage prostate cancer.

18 Jul 2008

Discovery of molecule that kills kidney cancer cells

Kidney cancer patients generally have one option for beating their disease: surgery to remove the organ. But that could change, thanks to a new molecule found by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers that kills kidney cancer cells. Ideally, the researchers said, a drug created from this molecule would help fight the life-threatening disease while leaving patients' kidneys intact.

7 Jul 2008

New ovarian stimulation technique helps women restore their fertility following chemotherapy or radiotherapy

Researchers have shown for the first time that it is possible to stimulate a woman's ovaries to produce eggs for collection during the final phase of the menstrual cycle.

7 Jul 2008

Treatment delays result in poor outcomes for men with breast cancer

Men who develop breast cancer are often not treated until the disease has spread to the point that treatment becomes difficult, new results show.

6 Jul 2008

New clinical trial for patients with asbestos-associated lung cancer

The Mesothelioma Center within the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center is now recruiting patients for a clinical research study of a new targeted radiation and chemotherapy protocol for pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung's lining that is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos.

26 Jun 2008

First comprehensive report on colorectal cancer care in Europe and Australia reveals need for action

The first cross-country report on the management and funding of colorectal cancer (CRC) reveals an urgent need for action to improve the survival of patients diagnosed with this common cancer in Europe and Australia.

25 Jun 2008

Radiation therapy prolongs life in men with recurrent prostate cancer

Men whose tumors recur after prostate cancer surgery are three times more likely to survive their disease long term if they undergo radiotherapy within two years of the recurrence. Surprisingly, survival benefits were best in men whose new tumors were growing fastest, according to results of a 'look-back' study of 635 men by Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions researchers reported June 18 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

17 Jun 2008

FDA targets cancer cure 'scammers' online

Warning Letters have been sent to 23 U.S. companies and two foreign individuals marketing a wide range of products fraudulently claiming to prevent and cure cancer, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration today.

17 Jun 2008