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).

Brain tumor surgery, depression and survival

Depression is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in the world today. It is estimated that in any given year, 5 to 9 percent of the US population is clinically depressed. Studies have shown that depression negatively affects the immunological system, alters the body's response to malignancy, and may influence behavioral factors that impact recovery from disease

29 Apr 2008

New imaging technology lights up lungs to diagnose disease

Researchers at the University of Sheffield have developed innovative technology which illuminates a person's lungs and helps clinicians identify if they are functioning correctly. The new technology could result in earlier diagnosis of emphysema and smoking related damage, as well as other lung conditions and diseases.

28 Apr 2008

Multiple studies demonstrate use of hyperthermia therapy in treating pancreatic cancer

BSD Medical Corporation has began to report highlights from 204 abstracts summarizing presentations at the International Congress on Hyperthermic Oncology (ICHO) conducted this month in Munich, Germany

24 Apr 2008

Slowing the spread of cancer in Albania

Once locked in decades of isolation, Albania is seeing new horizons in the fight against poverty. Expectations run high, driving demands for better - and healthier - lives.

23 Apr 2008

Cisplatin found to be less effective than standard treatment for patients with anal cancer

When administered before chemoradiation, the common anti-cancer drug cisplatin neither improved disease-free survival nor reduced the number of colostomies needed when compared to the standard treatment for patients with anal canal cancer, according to a study published in the April 23 issue of the JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

22 Apr 2008

Countries could save millions of Euros a year if follow-ups for breast cancer patients were led by specialist nurses rather than physicians

Follow-up care for breast cancer patients costs less if it is conducted by nurses rather than physicians, yet there is no difference in the patients' anxiety, depression, satisfaction or outcome, according to research presented today (Friday) at the 6th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-6) in Berlin.

18 Apr 2008

Hospital follow-up services not necessary for all child cancer survivors

Many child cancer patients will benefit from ongoing follow-up, but others should be allowed to move on and put the experience of cancer behind them, say experts in this week's issue of the BMJ.

4 Apr 2008

Chemotherapy-induced anemia increases risk of local breast cancer recurrence

Patients with breast cancer who developed anemia during chemotherapy had nearly three times the risk of local recurrence as those who did not, according to a study published in the April 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research¸ a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

2 Apr 2008

Review of supplement use among US cancer patients

Many of the 10 million cancer patients in the US are taking nutritional supplements, but an accurate assessment of the frequency is not well appreciated.

24 Mar 2008

Shorter radiotherapy courses for breast cancer just as safe and effective

British researchers say when it comes to treating breast cancer in women, shorter courses of radiation at a lower overall dose appear to be just as safe and effective as the standard treatment delivered over a longer period of time.

21 Mar 2008

Review of supplement use among US cancer patients

Many of the 10 million cancer patients in the US are taking nutritional supplements, but an accurate assessment of the frequency is not well appreciated.

20 Mar 2008

Shorter radiotherapy courses can benefit breast cancer patients

A LOWER total dose of radiotherapy, delivered in fewer, larger treatments has been shown to be as effective as the international standard of a higher total dose delivered over a longer time to treat women with early breast cancer according to new research published in the Lancetand Lancet Oncology.

20 Mar 2008

New study confirms that PROGENSA PCA3 can improve accuracy of prostate cancer diagnosis

New clinical data from a study of 570 men published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Urology support the use of PROGENSA PCA3 as a tool for diagnosing prostate cancer. The study confirms that PROGENSA PCA3, the world's first gene-based urine test to help detect prostate cancer, can provide clinicians with valuable information that helps guide diagnosis.

20 Mar 2008

A long-term survival offered by resection of solid-pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas?

The article published in volume 14 issue 6 of World Journal of Gastroenterology reports on one patient who presented to Dr Cosimo Sperti of University of Padua, Padova, Italy, in 2001 after an exploratory laparotomy performed in another hospital for an unresectable pancreatic cystic mass that had infiltrated the portal vein.

14 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