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.

Adding venetoclax to transplant conditioning regimen shows promise in patients with myeloid cancers

For patients with high-risk myeloid cancers undergoing a donor stem cell transplant, adding the targeted drug venetoclax to a reduced-intensity drug regimen prior to transplant is safe and does not impair the ability of the donor cells to take root in recipients' bodies, a study led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers suggests.

8 Dec 2019

Cancer patients report less dry mouth after receiving acupuncture treatment

After receiving acupuncture treatment three days a week during the course of radiation treatment, head and neck cancer patients experienced less dry mouth, according to study results from researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

6 Dec 2019

Newer safer way to effectively treat deadly brain cancer

A new engineering solution may help deliver tumor killing drugs directly to the brain tumor without the toxic body effects of systemic chemotherapy. The new study published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports reports on the use of coaxial electrospinning, an industrial fabrication technology, in the production of membranes that incorporate drugs to treat glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), an aggressive cancer of the brain.

3 Dec 2019

Study reveals effectiveness of single-dose radiotherapy for cancer in the spine

A single dose of radiotherapy is as "effective" as five doses for end-of-life cancer patients suffering with painful spinal canal compression, finds a large study conducted by UCL.

3 Dec 2019

MRI-guided ultrasound ablation: safer better treatment for prostate cancer

Prostate cancer may soon be treated more effectively using ultrasound at therapeutic levels, without the significant and distressing side effects of more traditional treatments. A new study presented on December 2, 2019, presents the outcome of using focused ultrasound ablation under MRI guidance in a novel procedure that can be used to treat both benign and malignant enlargement of the prostate gland.

2 Dec 2019

Immunotherapy after CRT is safe in curative treatment of women with node-positive cervical cancer

Results from the NRG Oncology phase I clinical trial NRG-GOG 9929 show that utilizing the immunotherapy drug ipilimumab after chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is tolerated in the curative treatment of women with lymph node-positive cervical cancer.

2 Dec 2019

Alzheimer's may soon be treated with low dose radiation therapy

A new Phase I study is in the pipeline that would try the effects of low dose radiation therapy for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers from the Beaumont Research Institute in Royal Oak, Michigan are in the process of recruiting patients for their study. The study is titled, “Study of Low Dose Whole Brain Irradiation in the Treatment of Alzheimer's disease”.

27 Nov 2019

Tandem radiation therapy effective in prostate cancer patients with no treatment options

Reports of new cancer treatments often raise high hopes and expectations, particularly, of course, among cancer patients and their families.

26 Nov 2019

Women treated for early-stage breast cancer may develop invasive breast cancer

New research in the November 2019 issue of JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network examines the implications of invasive breast cancer after breast-conserving treatment for ductal carcinoma in situ (aka DCIS, a form of non-invasive breast cancer) and which factors could impact overall survival.

25 Nov 2019

Breast-conserving treatment may be a viable alternative to mastectomy, study suggests

Approximately 10% of breast cancer patients treated with lumpectomy (breast-conserving surgery [BCS]) and whole-breast radiation (WBI) will have a subsequent in-breast local recurrence of cancer (IBTR) when followed long term.

22 Nov 2019

Nationwide survey highlights patients’ perspectives about cancer treatment experiences

One in three adults treated for cancer may experience side effects from treatment they wish they had known more about, according to a new survey published today in the Journal of Oncology Practice.

21 Nov 2019

Cell factors decide if a cancer grows or dies, says new study

A new study published today in the journal Cell Reports by scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) shows that the direction taken by a cancer cell depends on the configuration of the cell itself as well as the activation of a universal cancer cell receptor called CD95.

19 Nov 2019

Mayo Clinic, Hitachi to build North America's first carbon ion treatment facility

Mayo Clinic and Hitachi, Ltd. have reached an agreement in principle to build a carbon ion treatment facility as part of Mayo Clinic's recently announced integrated oncology facility which will be constructed at Mayo Clinic's campus in Jacksonville, Florida.

19 Nov 2019

Lithium corrects radiation damage to brain in young cancer patients

A new study on mice, published online in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, on November 14, 2019, shows that the intermittent use of lithium, which is widely used to stabilize the mood in conditions such as bipolar disorder, can correct memory and learning losses due to radiation therapy to the brain in very young animals, even when the lithium is given long after the injury.

14 Nov 2019

Inhaled nanoparticles can help treat lung cancer

Scientists have reported a new approach to treating lung cancer with inhaled nanoparticles developed at Wake Forest School of Medicine, part of Wake Forest Baptist Health.

14 Nov 2019

Scientists find driver for more deadly prostate cancer

A transcription factor that aids neuron function also appears to enable a cell conversion in the prostate gland that can make an already recurrent cancer even more deadly, scientists say.

13 Nov 2019

Cardiac resynchronization therapy improves heart function in cancer survivors

A pacemaker-like device restored heart function in a group of cancer survivors -- mostly women with breast cancer -- who had suffered from heart failure as a result of chemotherapy treatment, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports.

12 Nov 2019

New clinical trial aims to reduce malnutrition among patients with lung cancer

A new clinical trial at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute aims to reduce malnutrition among patients with lung cancer by offering nutritional counseling and medically tailored meals to at-risk patients.

12 Nov 2019

Preclinical data on new drug combination to treat neuroblastoma published

Neuroblastoma is the most common cancer outside of the brain in infants and young children and often fails to respond to therapy. Though it can appear in several areas of the body, it commonly develops as a solid tumor most frequently found in or adjacent to the adrenal glands, which sit atop the kidneys.

10 Nov 2019

Hitachi and CLB in Lyon-France announce research collaboration to fight against cancer with AI

Hitachi, Ltd. and Centre Leon Berard (CLB), a leading French Comprehensive Cancer Center in Lyon-France, announced today that they have entered into an agreement to jointly promote research and development aimed at improving the efficiency of diagnosis and treatment of cancer and established a new research laboratory called Hitachi Lyon Lab on the CLB site, starting November 5th.

8 Nov 2019