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Radiation Oncology

Bringing radiotherapy into the personalized medicine revolution

Bryant Furlow, BA May 15, 2012

Researchers are investigating the use of genomics to achieve better cure rates with less morbidity in patients undergoing radiation treatment.

Potentially treatable side effects plague breast cancer survivors for years

Delicia Honen Yard May 11, 2012

Six years after breast cancer treatment, more than 60% of women experienced at least one side effect amenable to rehabilitative intervention.

Fewer cycles of higher-dose chemotherapy best in advanced Hodgkin lymphoma

Delicia Honen Yard May 10, 2012

Six cycles of higher-dose chemotherapy, not the standard eight cycles or a lower-dose variant, should be the treatment of choice for advanced Hodgkin.

In patients with an ICP/ICD, multidisciplinary approach with frequent assessments heightens safety during radiation

Traci Dantoni May 04, 2012

An approach focusing on patient education and assessments by a multidisciplinary team improved safety in patients with a pacemaker device.

A second gene may predispose women to breast cancer

April 30, 2012

Scientists have discovered that the Abraxas gene may advance the mission of BRCA1 and may even act on its own to help breast cancer develop.

IMRT shows better side-effect profile in breast cancer

Delicia Honen Yard April 30, 2012

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy is associated with fewer toxicities than is the standard approach of whole breast irradiation.

No link between BMI and surgical outcome in esophageal cancer

Delicia Honen Yard April 25, 2012

BMI appears to have no bearing on surgical complications or survival after esophagectomy following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for adenocarcinoma.

Women confused by DCIS breast diagnosis

Delicia Honen Yard April 16, 2012

Ductal carcinoma in situ has a positive prognosis but requires treatment similar to that for invasive breast cancer, sending a conflicting message.

Many women with cancer missing fertility risk info, services

Delicia Honen Yard April 11, 2012

Few women of childbearing age who are diagnosed with cancer are taking steps to preserve their fertility during treatment.

NCRP addresses consequences of radiation therapy

Delicia Honen Yard March 28, 2012

A report from the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements presents conclusions and recommendations regarding radiotherapy risks.

Surgical oncologists less likely than medical, radiation oncologists to discuss fertility risks with patients

Delicia Honen Yard March 27, 2012

Medical and radiation oncologists are more likely than surgical oncologists to discuss with patients how treatment might affect future fertility.

Abscopal effect strengthens combination therapy in a melanoma patient

Delicia Honen Yard March 21, 2012

Combination therapy may be a promising treatment approach for patients with advanced melanoma who experience the abscopal effect.

Dual therapy can produce potent response in soft-tissue sarcoma

Delicia Honen Yard March 15, 2012

Implanted immune system cells combined with radiation safely induced antitumor immune responses in patients with high-risk soft-tissue sarcomas.

Prostate cancer treatment mismatched with clinical benefit

Delicia Honen Yard March 13, 2012

Therapy has become more aggressive for men with a low likelihood of clinical benefit, but not for men with a high likelihood of clinical benefit.

Stereotactic radiotherapy safe for people with lung cancer and COPD

Delicia Honen Yard March 06, 2012

Stereotactic body radiotherapy is a good option for people with stage 1 non-small-cell lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

New drugs change treatment landscape for advanced prostate cancer

Delicia Honen Yard March 05, 2012

Several newly approved drugs plus more in the pipeline present the real possibility of prolonging survival in men with advanced prostate cancer.

Blood cancers often require termination of early pregnancy

Delicia Honen Yard February 29, 2012

The urgent need for treatment may require a woman with a hematologic cancer to end an early-stage pregnancy, but not necessarily a later-stage one.

Surgery, chemotherapy for breast cancer usually okay in pregnancy

Delicia Honen Yard February 28, 2012

The majority of pregnant women with breast cancer can undergo surgery, chemotherapy, or both, but radiation therapy is generally not advised.

Some pregnancies can continue despite cervical, ovarian cancers

Delicia Honen Yard February 27, 2012

The current trend is to preserve pregnancy in women diagnosed with cervical or ovarian cancer whenever feasible, according to a recent review.

Do proton  radiotherapy collimators pose neutron radiation risks?

Bryant Furlow, BA February 22, 2012

A computer modeling study introduces concerns about tungsten-alloy multileaf collimators. ONA talks to a lead author and critics of the study.

Exercise improves life after cancer treatment

Delicia Honen Yard February 15, 2012

Physical activity was associated with important positive effects on physical functions and quality of life in persons who had completed their treatment for cancer.

Radiation Not Tied to Improved Survival in Advanced NSCLC

February 14, 2012

Postoperative radiation confers no survival benefit for elderly with N2 non-small-cell lung cancer

Membrane temperature offers clue to oral mucositis risk in head and neck cancer

Delicia Honen Yard February 14, 2012

Thermal imaging can detect early changes in the temperature of mucosal surfaces that may signal mucositis in persons with head and neck cancer who are receiving chemoradiotherapy.

Radiation Risks From Diagnostic Procedures Examined

February 10, 2012

Strategic framework is needed to reduce patient risks as use of medical radiation increases.

Brachytherapy can be successful for high-risk prostate cases, too

Delicia Honen Yard February 08, 2012

Although brachytherapy has not been considered very effective for high-risk prostate cancer, it reduced disease-specific mortality compared with external beam radiation alone.

Therapeutic vaccine for brain cancer being studied

Delicia Honen Yard January 24, 2012

A vaccine for people newly diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme—the most aggressive and highest-grade malignant glioma—is being tested at 20 sites nationwide in a phase II trial.

Proton therapy effective against prostate cancer

Delicia Honen Yard January 19, 2012

Two studies published in International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics indicate that proton therapy is a useful treatment for prostate cancer.

Scoring system can identify recurrence risk for DCIS breast cancer

Delicia Honen Yard January 04, 2012

A multigene test for predicting risk of breast cancer recurrence represents the first such assay used to differentiate lower-risk ductal carcinoma in situ from more aggressive forms.

Brachytherapy doubled risk for mastectomy, complications in older women

Delicia Honen Yard December 22, 2011

Although popular among older women with breast cancer, accelerated partial breast brachytherapy may be less effective and more toxic than standard whole breast irradiation in these patients.