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.

Jersey Shore to break ground on HOPE Tower to provide new healing outpatient experience for the community

Jersey Shore University Medical Center, part of the Meridian Health family, is preparing to break ground this fall on the HOPE Tower Project - a $265 million dollar building development on the hospital's east campus that will provide a new healing outpatient experience for the community. HOPE Tower's expected date of completion is early 2018.

1 Sep 2015

Soligenix completes enrolment in SGX942 Phase 2 trial for oral mucositis in cancer patients

Soligenix, Inc., a late-stage biopharmaceutical company developing products that address unmet medical needs in the areas of inflammation, oncology and biodefense, announced today it has completed enrollment of the additional subjects, as directed by the Data Review Committee (DRC) earlier this year, into the company's Phase 2 study for SGX942.

31 Aug 2015

Childhood cancer survivors have high risk of suffering stroke at young age

Most people assume strokes only happen to octogenarians, but recent evidence suggests that survivors of childhood cancer have a high risk of suffering a stroke at a surprisingly young age.

27 Aug 2015

Researchers find that 26% of senior oncology patients use complementary or alternative medicines

Alternative medicines are widely thought to be at least harmless and very often helpful for a wide range of discomforts and illnesses. However, although they're marketed as "natural," they often contain active ingredients that can react chemically and biologically with other therapies.

27 Aug 2015

ASTRO awards $675,000 to seven physician-researchers to advance radiation oncology research

The American Society for Radiation Oncology has selected seven leading physician-researchers to receive a total of $675,000 in awards and grants to advance radiation oncology research. Together, the seven funding grants, including ASTRO Junior Faculty Career Research Training Award, the ASTRO Residents/Fellows in Radiation Oncology Research Seed Award and the ASTRO/Radiation Oncology Institute Comparative Effectiveness Research Award, will support studies in radiation and cancer biology, radiation physics, translational research, outcomes/health services research and comparative effectiveness research within radiation oncology.

27 Aug 2015

Irreversible electroporation may prolong survival rates of patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer

Use of irreversible electroporation (IRE) doubles the survival time for patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer say researchers at the University of Louisville in a paper in the September edition of the Annals of Surgery.

25 Aug 2015

Study sheds light on fertility concerns of young breast cancer patients

Concerns about fertility kept a third of young women with breast cancer from taking tamoxifen, despite its known benefit in reducing the risk of breast cancer coming back.

25 Aug 2015

UT System Board of Regents approves new UT Southwestern Monty and Tex Moncrief Medical Center

The University of Texas System Board of Regents has approved establishment of the UT Southwestern Monty and Tex Moncrief Medical Center at Fort Worth, made possible by an extraordinary $25 million commitment from W.A. "Tex" Moncrief Jr. The Center is UT Southwestern's first named campus outside of Dallas.

24 Aug 2015

New partnering scholarship launched to inspire and develop potential oncology nurses

As experienced oncology nurses know, a cancer diagnosis is only the first step on a long and challenging road ahead—for patients and providers alike. For both, a wide range of procedures becomes part and parcel of every day.

19 Aug 2015

Johns Hopkins experts say hospital consolidation may reduce patient choice, increase medical expenses

In a commentary published in the Aug. 13 issue of JAMA, Johns Hopkins experts say consolidation of hospitals into massive chains threatens healthy competition, reduces patient choice and could drive up medical expenses.

19 Aug 2015

First patient enrolled in Phase II trial of ImmunoPulse IL-12 and pembrolizumab combination therapy

OncoSec Medical Incorporated, a company developing DNA-based intratumoral cancer immunotherapies, today announced enrollment of the first patient into the Phase II Investigator Sponsored Trial led by the University of California, San Francisco to assess the anti-tumor activity, safety, and tolerability of the combination of OncoSec's investigational therapy, ImmunoPulse IL-12, and Merck's approved anti-PD-1 agent, KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), in patients with unresectable metastatic melanoma.

18 Aug 2015

MGH study reveals effects of combined radiation and chemotherapy on the brain tissue of glioblastoma patients

A study from Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center researchers - the first to examine the effects of combined radiation and chemotherapy on the healthy brain tissue of glioblastoma patients - reveals not only specific structural changes within patients' brains but also that the effect of cancer therapy on the normal brain appears to be progressive and continues even after radiation therapy has ceased.

18 Aug 2015

FDA accepts Chiasma's NDA filing for octreotide capsules for treatment of adult patients with acromegaly

Chiasma, Inc., a U.S. late-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted for filing the Company's New Drug Application (NDA) for the marketing and sale of octreotide capsules, an oral drug proposed for the maintenance therapy of adult patients with acromegaly.

17 Aug 2015

New system accurately and reliably captures patient experience with cancer drug side effects

In cancer clinical trials, symptom side effects patients experience, like nausea, are typically reported by doctors, and not directly by patients. Previous research has shown that doctors under-report these symptoms.

14 Aug 2015

Merck, MD Anderson form strategic clinical research collaboration to evaluate anti-PD-1 therapy

Merck and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announced a strategic clinical research collaboration to evaluate Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy, KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), in combination with other treatments, such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy and/or novel anti-tumor medicines.

14 Aug 2015

Cost of radiation therapy varies widely among Medicare patients with cancer

Cost of radiation therapy among Medicare patients varied most widely because of factors unrelated to a patient or that person's cancer, report University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers in the Journal of Oncology Practice.

12 Aug 2015

Novel combination therapy effective at treating patients with skin metastases

In findings never before seen in melanoma, a novel combination therapy was found to be highly effective at treating patients with skin metastases, new research from UC Davis has shown.

12 Aug 2015

Seventeen distinguished members of ASTRO selected to receive Fellows designation

The American Society for Radiation Oncology has selected 17 distinguished members to receive the ASTRO Fellows designation. The 2015 class of Fellows will receive the recognition at the Awards Ceremony at ASTRO's 57th Annual Meeting on Tuesday, October 20 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio.

11 Aug 2015

SCCA Proton Therapy Center makes advanced radiation therapy accessible to patients with ocular melanoma

For most the ability to see is often taken for granted. But for the thousands diagnosed with ocular melanoma, the fear of losing their eyesight or even worse, their lives, is an all too real possibility. Ocular melanoma is seen as a rare form of cancer, with approximately two thousand new diagnoses per year.

11 Aug 2015

Shorter course of whole breast radiation therapy better for women with early stage breast cancer

Women who receive a shorter course of whole breast radiation therapy for early stage disease experience less toxicity and improved quality of life compared to those who undergo a longer course of treatment, researchers report from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

7 Aug 2015

Radiation Therapy News and Research

Further Reading

Jersey Shore to break ground on HOPE Tower to provide new healing outpatient experience for the community

Soligenix completes enrolment in SGX942 Phase 2 trial for oral mucositis in cancer patients

Childhood cancer survivors have high risk of suffering stroke at young age

Researchers find that 26% of senior oncology patients use complementary or alternative medicines

ASTRO awards $675,000 to seven physician-researchers to advance radiation oncology research

Irreversible electroporation may prolong survival rates of patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer

Study sheds light on fertility concerns of young breast cancer patients

UT System Board of Regents approves new UT Southwestern Monty and Tex Moncrief Medical Center

New partnering scholarship launched to inspire and develop potential oncology nurses

Johns Hopkins experts say hospital consolidation may reduce patient choice, increase medical expenses

First patient enrolled in Phase II trial of ImmunoPulse IL-12 and pembrolizumab combination therapy

MGH study reveals effects of combined radiation and chemotherapy on the brain tissue of glioblastoma patients

FDA accepts Chiasma's NDA filing for octreotide capsules for treatment of adult patients with acromegaly

New system accurately and reliably captures patient experience with cancer drug side effects

Merck, MD Anderson form strategic clinical research collaboration to evaluate anti-PD-1 therapy

Cost of radiation therapy varies widely among Medicare patients with cancer

Novel combination therapy effective at treating patients with skin metastases

Seventeen distinguished members of ASTRO selected to receive Fellows designation

SCCA Proton Therapy Center makes advanced radiation therapy accessible to patients with ocular melanoma

Shorter course of whole breast radiation therapy better for women with early stage breast cancer

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

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