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.

ASTRO honors founder of The Oral Cancer Foundation

The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has named Brian Hill of Newport Beach, Calif., as its 2010 Survivor Circle Award winner. Hill will be recognized with a trophy and a $1,000 prize during the Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, November 2, 2010, during ASTRO's 52nd Annual Meeting in San Diego. He has chosen to donate the funds from the award to benefit The Oral Cancer Foundation, the nonprofit he started a decade ago.

18 Oct 2010

BSD's MicroThermX Microwave Ablation System featured at CIRSE

BSD Medical Corporation announced today that the MicroThermX Microwave Ablation System was featured at the Company's exhibition booth at the international meeting of the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe (CIRSE), which was held in Valencia, Spain, October 2-6, 2010.

15 Oct 2010

Patient-specific experimental vaccine to prevent recurrence of glioblastoma

Mary Lee's primary care physician is also a family friend. When he walked into the exam room in October 2006 with tears in his eyes, she knew something serious was wrong. But she was shocked to learn she had a brain tumor - and later found out it was the most aggressive malignant type, a glioblastoma multiforme.

14 Oct 2010

IsoRay initiates study of Cesium-131 brachytherapy seeds for NSCLC cancer

IsoRay, Inc. announced today the initiation of a multi-institutional study of Cesium-131 brachytherapy seeds (internal radiation therapy) for use in Non Small Cell Lung Cancers (NSCLC). A number of institutions and physicians will be working to collect scientific data to further the use of Cesium-131 internal radiation therapy in conjunction with surgery for NSCLC.

14 Oct 2010

Humanitas Clinic treats first cancer patient using TrueBeam technology

A 54-year-old head & neck cancer patient has become the first person in Italy to be treated using a revolutionary new linear accelerator that can deliver radiotherapy twice as fast as conventional therapy machines. The Humanitas Clinic in Rozzano-Milan carried out the treatment last week, becoming only the third hospital in Europe to begin clinical treatments using TrueBeam from Varian Medical Systems.

13 Oct 2010

US Oncology enrolls 1,000th patient in Phase I clinical trial

US Oncology, Inc., the nation's leading integrated oncology company, announced today that it has enrolled the 1,000th patient in a Phase I clinical trial through its US Oncology Research Network. Phase I clinical trials present special challenges, including increased safety concerns, higher variability of patient disease, more complex trial designs, and some first-in-human trials, making Phase I trials more difficult to operate in the community setting.

13 Oct 2010

$Balloon kyphoplasty relieves painful spine fractures in patients with metastatic cancer$

Balloon kyphoplasty relieves painful spine fractures in patients with metastatic cancer

A surgical technique appears to offer quick and effective relief for debilitating spinal fractures often suffered by patients with metastatic cancer, researchers reported at the 35th Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) in Milan.

11 Oct 2010

Chongqing Cancer Hospital commences treatment with Varian's RapidArc radiotherapy

Chongqing Cancer Hospital in Southwest China has become the first treatment center in Southwest China to offer cancer patients a faster, more precise form of image-guided radiotherapy that potentially enables doctors to improve outcomes while extending more advanced care to more patients. Clinicians at the hospital have used RapidArc® radiotherapy from Varian Medical Systems to treat patients for cancers of the nasopharynx, cervix, breast, and lung.

11 Oct 2010

CTCA in Tulsa purchases BSD-2000 Hyperthermia System

BSD Medical Corporation announced today that the Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has purchased a BSD-2000 Hyperthermia System (BSD-2000). CTCA in Tulsa is a state-of-the-art hospital that is totally focused on treating cancer patients and provides the most advanced therapeutic resources in cancer treatment.

11 Oct 2010

Allos announces favorable survival data from FOLOTYN Phase 2b study

Allos Therapeutics, Inc. today announced the presentation of favorable survival data from the Company's international, randomized Phase 2b investigational study of FOLOTYN relative to erlotinib in patients with Stage IIIB/IV (advanced) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In this study, patients receiving FOLOTYN had a 16 percent reduction in the risk of death compared to erlotinib in the overall (intent-to-treat) population.

11 Oct 2010

$Balloon kyphoplasty offers effective relief for debilitating spinal fractures suffered by metastatic cancer patients$

Balloon kyphoplasty offers effective relief for debilitating spinal fractures suffered by metastatic cancer patients

11 Oct 2010

BARDA awards $4.2 million contract to Menssana Research to develop breath test for radiation exposure

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority in the US Department of Health and Human Services has awarded Menssana Research Inc., a company with research facilities in the NJIT Enterprise Development Center, a contract for $4.2 million to develop a breath test for radiation exposure. If the contract is exercised with options, it could total $22.84 million.

11 Oct 2010

Positron comments on new medical radiation bill passed into law in California

Positron Corporation, a leading molecular imaging company specializing in the field of nuclear cardiology, commented on the new medical radiation bill passed into law in California.

8 Oct 2010

Novel peptide NX002 demonstrates efficacy in animal model of oral mucositis: Study

NephRx Corporation today announced that a new study has shown that its novel peptide NX002 demonstrated significant efficacy when tested in an animal model of oral mucositis. Mucositis is a debilitating and often dose-limiting side effect of many forms of cancer therapy that affects more than 400,000 patients who receive chemotherapy or radiation treatment in the U.S. each year. Current treatment options are very limited.

8 Oct 2010

Cs-131 brachytherapy seed implant can treat metastasized cancer

IsoRay, Inc. announced today another milestone in the use of Cesium-131 (Cs-131) brachytherapy seeds (internal radiation therapy). Doctors at a world renowned medical facility have performed the world's first Cs-131 brachytherapy seed implant following a wedge resection of a lung tumor which originated from a form of malignant uterine cancer. Initially used to treat primary cancers, Cs-131 seeds are now being used to treat metastasized cancer.

7 Oct 2010

Should Medicare consider cost-effectiveness when setting reimbursement rates?

Medicare reimbursement rates should be based on how cost effective the treatment is for a particular illness, according to a piece by two policy experts in the October edition of Health Affairs.

7 Oct 2010

Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation hosts conference to discuss advancements in therapeutic medicine

The Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation is hosting the 2nd International Symposium on MR-guided Focused Ultrasound in Chantilly, Virginia from October 17-20. Leading researchers and clinicians from around the world will gather at the three-day scientific conference to present and discuss the latest advancements in one of the most revolutionary and promising areas of therapeutic medicine.

6 Oct 2010