http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A Japanese cancer specialist said Wednesday she has started the world's first clinical trial of a powerful, non-surgical, short-term radiation therapy for breast cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-japan-hospital-powerful-breast-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 22 May 2013 07:30:02 EST news288424325 The diabetes drug metformin slows the growth of lung cancer cells and makes them more likely to be killed by radiotherapy, according to a study published in the British Journal of Cancer today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-diabetes-drug-lung-cancer-vulnerable.html Cancer Wed, 01 May 2013 08:32:51 EST news286615964 In one of the largest observational studies of its kind, researchers report that a combination of chemotherapy and radiation followed by surgery in patients with stage 3 non-small cell lung cancer improves survival. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-chemo-surgery-survival-lung-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:37:33 EST news286547845 Researchers have shown for the first time that it is possible to reduce the distressing symptoms of dry mouth in patients treated with radiotherapy for head and neck cancers if the radiation dose to a salivary gland (called the submandibular gland) on the opposite side to the tumour is kept to the minimum. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-radiotherapy-approach-symptoms-mouth-patients.html Cancer Sat, 20 Apr 2013 06:58:28 EST news285659899 Mouse model studies show that administered genetically or topically, protein Smad7 protects against or heals mouth sores commonly associated with cancer treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-drug-radiotherapy-associated-oral-mucositis.html Cancer Tue, 12 Mar 2013 15:44:36 EST news282321870 By harnessing the very qualities that make sickle cell disease a lethal blood disorder, a research team led by Duke Medicine and Jenomic, a private cancer research company in Carmel, Calif., has developed a way to deploy the misshapen red blood cells to fight cancer tumors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-sickle-cells-potential-aggressive-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 09 Jan 2013 17:00:06 EST news276961342 A small percentage of men in a prostate cancer study complained that their penis seemed shorter following treatment, with some saying that it interfered with intimate relationships and caused them to regret the type of treatment they chose. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-men-voice-complaints-shortened-penis.html Cancer Wed, 02 Jan 2013 14:17:49 EST news276358368 (HealthDay)—Many people with incurable lung cancer mistakenly believe that radiation therapy meant to ease their pain and other symptoms may cure their disease, researchers report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-mistakenly-terminal-lung-cancer.html Cancer Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:40:06 EST news270741648 (HealthDay)—A new study allays concerns that early-stage breast cancer patients who receive radiation treatment might have a long-term increased risk for heart problems. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-long-term-heart-breast.html Cancer Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:30:01 EST news270741602 An oral rinse of the antidepressant doxepin significantly eased pain associated with oral mucositis in patients receiving radiation therapy for cancers of the head and neck, a study led by Mayo Clinic found. The findings were presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology annual meeting in Boston. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-antidepressant-eases-radiation-related-mouth-pain.html Cancer Mon, 29 Oct 2012 11:22:35 EST news270728546 Until recently, Nanci Redd thought she would need brain surgery if she wanted to stay in Akron, Ohio, to treat uncontrolled dizziness caused by a non-cancerous growth in her head. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-brain-cancer-treatment-options-boosted.html Cancer Fri, 24 Aug 2012 13:00:01 EST news265028423 A Rhode Island Hospital radiation oncologist says in a new editorial that research exploring the impact of radiotherapy in older women with low risk of breast cancer recurrence has little effect on actual clinical decisions. The editorial written by David E. Wazer, M.D., chief of the department of radiation oncology, is published in the current issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-older-women-benefit-radiotherapy-breast.html Cancer Tue, 21 Aug 2012 11:49:46 EST news264768580 When treating prostate cancer with radiotherapy, knowing the prostate cancer position is critical to accurately targeting the radiation beam to avoid missing the tumour and irradiating healthy tissue. Prostate cancer patients being treated with radiotherapy can now have their prostate position known to within 0.5mm during radiation treatment thanks to a study led by Professor Paul Keall, NHMRC Australia Fellow at the University of Sydney. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-prostate-cancer-treatment.html Cancer Mon, 06 Aug 2012 07:16:40 EST news263456193 A recent Phase I/II clinical trial has shown that a new combination of radiation therapies developed at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center escalates radiation doses to safely and effectively treat prostate cancer and lower the risk of recurrence with minimal radiation exposure to nearby healthy tissue and organs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-therapy-safely-prostate-cancer-lowers.html Cancer Tue, 26 Jun 2012 17:41:21 EST news259951274 Low oxygen levels in tumors can be used to predict cancer recurrence in men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer even before they receive radiation therapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-oxygen-tumors-prostate-cancer-recurrence.html Cancer Sun, 01 Apr 2012 05:58:29 EST news252478701 Breast cancer patients treated with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) instead of standard whole breast irradiation (WBI) have a lower incidence of acute or chronic toxicities, according to a study in Practical Radiation Oncology (PRO), the official clinical practice journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-imrt-side-effects-breast-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 28 Mar 2012 11:50:18 EST news252154210 (Medical Xpress) -- Image-guided stereotactic radiation therapy is well tolerated and very effective in locally-controlling lung cancer, Methodist Cancer Center researchers report in the April issue of the Journal of Radiation Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-stereotactic-radiotherapy-excellent-local-lung.html Cancer Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:36:37 EST news251454989 Researchers at the University of Granada and the university hospital Virgen de las Nieves in Granada have developed a new radiotherapy technique that is much less toxic than that traditionally used and only targets cancerous tissue. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-radiotherapy-technique-significantly-irradiation-healthy.html Cancer Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:44:42 EST news249302670 Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) provides better overall survival rates than surgery for lung cancer patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a disease commonly associated with lung cancer, according to a study in the upcoming March issue of the International Journal of Radiation, Oncology, Biology, Physics, the official scientific journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-sbrt-outcomes-surgery-cancer-patients.html Surgery Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:59:47 EST news248619574 The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has developed a guideline on the radiotherapeutic and surgical management for newly diagnosed brain metastases. It has been published in Practical Radiation Oncology (PRO), ASTRO's official clinical practice journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-astro-brain-metastases-guideline.html Cancer Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:03:57 EST news247921422 Radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy is less effective for patients with HIV when compared to the recurrence and overall survival rates in patients who do not have HIV, according to a study presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-standard-treatments-neck-cancer-effective.html Cancer Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:50:01 EST news246795615 (Medical Xpress) -- In choosing where they get treatment, prostate cancer patients tend to opt for a major cancer center if they have severe disease, but stick closer to home for less complicated cases, even when offered a model of care that taps numerous experts. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-approach-prostate-cancer-patients-riskiest.html Cancer Thu, 05 Jan 2012 09:00:36 EST news244976423 Approximately 10-20 percent of prostate cancer patients have a family history of the disease. There are three major factors that are used to evaluate the extent and aggressiveness of prostate cancer, help make treatment decisions, and estimate prognosis: the Prostate Specific Antigen Level (PSA), Gleason score (GS) from the biopsy, and the digital rectal exam findings (DRE). However, men with a family history of prostate cancer have often been feared to have a more aggressive form of the disease not otherwise represented by these three factors and therefore are sometimes urged to undergo more aggressive treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-aggressive-treatment-men-family-history.html Cancer Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:54:32 EST news237041665 After a prostate cancer patient receives radiation treatment, his doctor carefully monitors the amount of prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, in his blood. An increase in PSA, called biochemical failure, is the first detectable sign of the cancer's return to the prostate. Fox Chase Cancer Center researcher have found that the time between the last radiation treatment and biochemical failure can accurately predict a patient's risk of death of prostate cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-tool-prostate-cancer-patients-highest.html Cancer Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:08:33 EST news237024502 Patients with Merkel Cell Carcinoma who underwent a procedure called sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNLB) had a lower risk of cancer recurrence after two years, according to a study by researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center. When the biopsy's results were used to guide subsequent tests and treatment, these patients had longer survival rates than patients who had not undergone the procedure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-sentinel-lymph-node-biopsy-outcomes_1.html Cancer Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:06:15 EST news236887470 Rectal cancer patients who use a new combination of the chemotherapy, Capecitabine, together with five weeks of radiation (50 Gy) before surgery have an 88 percent chance of surviving the cancer three years after treatment, according to randomized trial presented at the plenary session, October 3, 2011, at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-chemo-surgery-tumor-response-rectal.html Cancer Mon, 26 Sep 2011 13:36:38 EST news236262991 Men with localized prostate cancer treated with a newer technology, intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), have more than a quarter (26 percent) fewer late bowel and rectal side effects and a statistically improved lower dose of radiation to the bladder and rectum, compared to those who undergo 3D-CRT, according to a randomized study presented at the plenary session October 3, 2011, at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-imrt-rectal-side-effects-3d-crt.html Cancer Mon, 26 Sep 2011 13:36:22 EST news236262973 Young women with early-stage breast cancer have similar survival rates with a lumpectomy and radiation treatment, known as breast-conservation therapy, as with mastectomy, a new study conducted at the University of Maryland has found. The results of the analysis of nearly 15,000 patients listed in a nationwide cancer registry will be presented at the 2011 Breast Cancer Symposium to be held Sept. 8-11 in San Francisco. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-young-women-early-breast-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:52:45 EST news234618748 Lymphoma is a cancer that affects organs of the immune system, including the lymph nodes. In a subtype of the disease called extranodal lymphoma, tumors arise in non-lymphoid organs, such as the tongue and tonsils. Patients with extranodal lymphoma of the head and neck often undergo radiation therapy, but this treatment frequently damages the salivary glands and causes dry mouth, which can lead to problems with eating, speaking and swallowing. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-imrt-outcomes-patients-extranodal-lymphoma.html Cancer Mon, 15 Aug 2011 04:15:22 EST news232600508 (Medical Xpress) -- Researchers at the Duke Cancer Institute and the University of Chicago have found a way to identify the one in four patients with recurring head and neck cancers who are most likely to benefit from a second round of chemotherapy and radiation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-criteria-treatment-success-recurring-neck.html Cancer Mon, 13 Jun 2011 08:23:13 EST news227171928