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).

Wiping out a protein in skin cancer cells could significantly stall melanoma tumor development

The protein, Akt3, appears to be responsible for promoting tumor cell survival and development in 43 percent to 60 percent of non-inherited melanomas.

13 Dec 2004

Women over the age of 60 with low-risk breast cancer may not need to receive radiation therapy after surgery

The current treatment standard recommended for most women with early stage breast cancer is breast conservation therapy, consisting of lumpectomy following by radiotherapy. The purpose of the radiotherapy is to kill any tumor cells in the remaining breast area that may have been missed by the surgery.

13 Dec 2004

Gauging the risk from prolonged low-level radiation

Everyone knows that high doses of radiation are dangerous, but the effects of long-term exposure to low-level radiation is poorly understood. RISC-RAD, a new European Union backed research project, seeks to identify our tolerance threshold so as to optimise protective measures.

7 Dec 2004

Scientists and clinicians are pioneering the diagnosis and treatment of children's brain tumours

The University of Birmingham, England, is working with Birmingham Children's Hospital to use high-tech science to make a difference to children's lives.

11 Nov 2004

UT Southwestern Moncrief Cancer Center treats patients with TomoTherapy

UT Southwestern Moncrief Cancer Center this week began treating patients with a TomoTherapy system utilizing image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT). Moncrief is the first cancer center in Texas to offer radiation treatment delivered by the TomoTherapy Hi-Art System.

10 Nov 2004

Researchers have identified a protein that transports the essential nutrient boron into cells

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have identified a protein that transports the essential nutrient boron into cells, where it is important for cell growth and bone development. The findings are in the Nov. 5 edition of the journal Molecular Cell and are online.

5 Nov 2004

Higher radiation doses helps patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer live longer

Treating patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer more aggressively by giving them higher doses of radiation helps keep the disease from spreading and allows some patients to live longer

28 Oct 2004

New radiotherapy regime benefits young women with breast cancer

Women under 35 years of age with breast cancer can have an almost 20% lower risk of their disease recurring if they are treated using a new radiotherapy regime.

26 Oct 2004

Radiotherapy with cetuximab significantly improves disease control and survival in head and neck cancer

Combination treatment using the monoclonal antibody cetuximab, along with high dose radiotherapy in the treatment of patients with loco-regionally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck results in significant improvements in both loco-regional control and overall survival, according to Dr Jordi Giralt of Val d'Hebron University Hospital.

26 Oct 2004

Project to refine and fine-tune radiotherapy treatment for cancer

The EU-funded GENEPI project will provide the facility for essential research which will improve and refine radiotherapy for European cancer patients

26 Oct 2004

Blocking gene opens avenues for treating prostate cancer

Cancer Research UK scientists in Oxford have found a new way to make prostate cancer succumb more readily to currently used treatments.

22 Oct 2004

Black men have better sexual and urinary function than white men after prostate cancer surgery

Five years after surgery for prostate cancer, African-American men reported better sexual and urinary function than non-Latino white men-yet they were also more dissatisfied with problems related to their sexual function

13 Oct 2004

Radiation either before or after chemotherapy and surgery just as effective for treating lung cancer

Radiation therapy before chemotherapy and surgery is just as effective in treating advanced non-small cell lung cancer as chemotherapy followed by surgery then radiation

5 Oct 2004

A revolutionary approach to angiogenesis could make cancer treatment more effective at killing tumours

Dr. Olivier Feron and his team from the University of Louvain Medical School in Brussels have turned the whole concept of targeting tumour blood vessels on its head. Instead of the conventional approach of trying to starve tumour cells of the blood supply they need to grow, they are doing the opposite – opening up the tumour blood supply to allow better access for cancer drugs and more effective radiotherapy.

30 Sep 2004

Researchers show gossypol – a drug refined from cottonseed oil is a cancer treatment booster

New research has opened up the prospect that gossypol – a drug refined from cottonseed oil and previously tried and abandoned as a male contraceptive – could boost the effectiveness of treatment for prostate tumours and possibly other common cancers as well.

30 Sep 2004

Phase II trials of the first second-generation antisense cancer drug to be used in patients soon to be underway

Phase II trials of the first second-generation antisense cancer drug to be used in patients are soon to be underway in the wake of a successful Phase I study, which has demonstrated that the new drug blocks its target gene in exactly the way it is designed to do.

28 Sep 2004

Trial shows which brain cancer patients benefit from temozolomide

An international team of scientists and cancer specialists has identified which patients with the deadly form of brain tumours called glioblastomas are likely to live longer if they are treated with temozolomide, and which patients are likely to get only marginal, if any, benefit.

28 Sep 2004

Chemotherapy improves survival and reduces the risk of recurrence in women with stage I ovarian cancer

A new study finds chemotherapy improves survival and reduces the risk of recurrence in women with stage I ovarian cancer (cancer that has not spread beyond the ovary). But it remains unclear which patients would most benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy and what the optimal treatment regimen would entail.

27 Sep 2004

New link in the growth of Ewing’s sarcoma

To develop new therapeutic approaches to cancer, it is essential to understand the long and extremely complex process that underlies it, in other words the various stages of cancer development from the initial mutation to the tumor.

23 Sep 2004

Fish oils appear to reduce breast cancer risk

Researchers who found that fish oils appear to reduce breast cancer risk have now discovered that the oils may especially benefit women with particular genetic makeups.

21 Sep 2004

Radiotherapy News and Research

Further Reading

Wiping out a protein in skin cancer cells could significantly stall melanoma tumor development

Women over the age of 60 with low-risk breast cancer may not need to receive radiation therapy after surgery

Gauging the risk from prolonged low-level radiation

Scientists and clinicians are pioneering the diagnosis and treatment of children's brain tumours

UT Southwestern Moncrief Cancer Center treats patients with TomoTherapy

Researchers have identified a protein that transports the essential nutrient boron into cells

Higher radiation doses helps patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer live longer

New radiotherapy regime benefits young women with breast cancer

Radiotherapy with cetuximab significantly improves disease control and survival in head and neck cancer

Project to refine and fine-tune radiotherapy treatment for cancer

Blocking gene opens avenues for treating prostate cancer

Black men have better sexual and urinary function than white men after prostate cancer surgery

Radiation either before or after chemotherapy and surgery just as effective for treating lung cancer

A revolutionary approach to angiogenesis could make cancer treatment more effective at killing tumours

Researchers show gossypol – a drug refined from cottonseed oil is a cancer treatment booster

Phase II trials of the first second-generation antisense cancer drug to be used in patients soon to be underway

Trial shows which brain cancer patients benefit from temozolomide

Chemotherapy improves survival and reduces the risk of recurrence in women with stage I ovarian cancer

New link in the growth of Ewing’s sarcoma

Fish oils appear to reduce breast cancer risk

Cancer Research eBook

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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