Study Suggests Statins May Make Radiation More Effective At Curing Prostate Cancer

Patients with prostate cancer who receive high-dose radiation treatment and also take statin drugs commonly used to lower cholesterol have a 10 percent higher chance of being cured of their cancer at 10 years after diagnosis (76 percent), compared to those who don't take these medications (66 percent), according to a study to be presented at a scientific session October 31, 2007, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 49th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.

The study demonstrated that the greatest benefit of statin medications was observed in patients who had more aggressive or advanced forms of prostate cancer. The research also showed that men who took statins during high-dose radiation therapy had a lower rate of the cancer spreading to distant parts of the body. "We were, indeed, surprised by the findings that statins used by these patients for other conditions was shown to improve the effectiveness of radiation treatment in killing prostate cancer cells," said Michael J. Zelefsky, M.D., the senior author of the study and a radiation oncologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. "The use of statins during radiation may also be effective in the treatment of other types of cancer. However, more studies are necessary to explore the association between statins and radiation treatment in curing cancers."

Medicalnewstoday.com

Breast Cancer Radiotherapy Causes Damage To Normal Tissue

A five day course of radiotherapy to treat breast cancer may, in some cases, expose as much lung and heart tissue to potentially toxic radiation as does the standard six weeks of treatment, say researchers at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville.

That because the short treatment, known as partial breast irradiation, focus radiation to a small sector of the breast through multiple beams, these beams can pass through the breast to the heart and lungs that lie behind, researchers found. Radiating the entire breast over weeks, as is standard practice, can expose much of the heart and lungs to long periods of lower dose radiation, they say.

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New Technology Developed At BC Cancer Agency May Revolutionize Radiation Therapy Delivery, Canada

The BC Cancer Agency, an agency of the Provincial Health Services Authority, has developed a revolutionary technology that will enable cancer patients to receive faster and more precise radiation therapy. Gordon Wright, a 72 year old retired commercial fisherman diagnosed with prostate cancer this July, is the first patient in the world treated with this technology.

"I obviously wanted the best treatment possible," says Wright, whose first treatment lasted just over a minute and a half, "and it's comforting to know that I'm benefiting from the latest technology while contributing to research that can help many people in the future."

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Damage To Surrounding Organs In Prostate Cancer Prevented By Guided Radiation Therapy

Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers have found that highly targeted radiation therapy for prostate cancer can ensure that the majority of persons with this tumor will not have any long-term rectal damage.

A group of 231 study participants received a combination of intensity-modulated radiation and seed marker-based image-guided radiation therapies (IM-IGRT) for prostate cancer then were tracked for 1.4 years. Nearly 98 percent of these participants had no rectal damage, according to Todd Scarbrough, M.D., principal investigator, associate professor, radiation medicine, OHSU School of Medicine; and an OHSU Cancer Institute member. This combination allows for millimeter targeting accuracy of the tumor.

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Positioning Pelvic Cancer Patients On Stomachs For Radiation Yields Better Results

Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers have found that positioning pelvic cancer patients on their stomachs rather than their backs is a better method for delivering radiation therapy. Because patients return for multiple therapies, being able to reproduce the positioning of the patient allowed more precision, which reduces toxicity.

"It was a surprising finding," according to according to Martin Fuss, M.D., the director of the Program in Image-Guided Radiation Therapy, OHSU Radiation Medicine, and OHSU Cancer Institute member.

Science Daily

Varian Medical Systems Ranks First in Overall Service Performance in 2007 Survey of U.S. Radiation Oncology Professionals

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Varian Medical Systems' (NYSE: VAR - News) has been ranked first in the industry in overall service performance by the ServiceTrak(TM) 2007 survey report on radiation oncology accelerators published by IMV, Ltd., a research company that analyzes service trends in various medical technology sectors and rates manufacturers' performance on the basis of telephone interviews with customers.

Varian ranked first in 15 out of 34 of the service attributes covered by this year's survey. In addition, the company's scores exceeded the industry averages for 30 of the 34 parameters measure

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Houston Radiation Oncologist Uses Video Game Technology To Zap Cancer

For years, Dr. Brian Butler, radiation oncologist at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, would be the first to tell you that video games are a waste of time. Shouldn't kids be reading, keeping their grades up and taking part in activities that keep them fit?

Butler now argues we have a lot to learn from those who immerse themselves in a world of video game technology. It is this technology that is revolutionizing radiation therapy for cancer. When an Ivy League college was unable to do it, he turned to a group of Dallas-based video game programmers in their 20s to create a system for him that takes targeted cancer therapy to another level.

Cancer therapy is now a video game, and the make believe shoot 'em up is not make believe at all. The enemy is cancer. The growth patterns of cancer are the "supply lines." And, because the program enables doctors to pinpoint the location of the cancer with the precision of a sniper rifle, it spares surrounding healthy tissue and cells from damage.

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BSD Medical to Deliver Message of Hope to Largest Conference of Radiation Oncologists

BSD Medical Corp. (Nachrichten) (AMEX:BSM) today announced that the company will be exhibiting at the 49th meeting of the largest radiation oncology conference held in America, the American Society of Therapeutic Radiation and Oncology (ASTRO), to be held in Los Angeles October 28-31. ASTRO has over 8,500 members, and the attendance for this ASTRO conference is expected to exceed the 11,000 participants from last year.

The theme of this year's conference is “Treating Cancer While Preserving Quality of Life.“ BSD will deliver a strong message of hope, based upon the promise of its cancer treatment, consistent with the theme of the conference.

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Varian Medical Systems to Introduce RapidArc(TM) Radiotherapy Technology for Volumetric Arc Therapy

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 25
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/
ASTRO Booth # 419

Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR - News) today announced that it has developed groundbreaking technology for faster, more precise cancer treatments using a unique form of volumetric arc therapy. Varian's new RapidArc(TM) radiotherapy technology* will enable clinicians to program a Varian linear accelerator to deliver more precise forms of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) up to eight times faster than is possible with conventional or helical IMRT (tomotherapy). Varian will unveil RapidArc at the 2007 meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) in Los Angeles later this week.

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New International Colorectal Cancer Study Using Targeted Radiotherapy

Doctors anticipate a new international research study into advanced colorectal cancer will determine the best first-line treatment to prolong and improve the lives of patients with disease that has spread to their liver, and may change standard colorectal cancer treatment practices worldwide.

The largest of its kind in the world, the SIRFLOX study has now started in twelve Australian hospitals and will compare two of the latest treatments for secondary liver cancer: an innovative Australian-developed radiation therapy that targets liver tumours, and three systemic chemotherapy drugs.

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Proton Therapy Helps Fight Cancer

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- There's a celebration of sorts at Shands Jacksonville. The University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute is celebrating its first anniversary.

It's the only proton therapy center in the Southeast and only one of five in the entire country.

It is big. Three stories tall. A massive machine from the front where it rotates around the patient; and from the back where it looks like something out of a spaceship.

Sherry Robbins is undergoing treatment for head and neck cancer. "I feel like I'm in Star Wars. They talk about the beam in the other room. It's bizarre."

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Researchers Working on Reducing Side Effects of Radiotherapy

Scientists from the University of Manchester will be discussing their work at the National Cancer Research Institute conference in Birmingham. Their research is aimed at reducing the side effects of radiotherapy without decreasing its effectiveness.

Around half of patients receive radiotherapy as part of their cancer treatment but the dose is limited by the possibility of causing side effects (toxicity) to the normal tissues and organs that surround the tumour. Some patients are more likely to experience these side effects than others: that is, there is an individual variation in tissue response. Some patients will be very sensitive.

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Breast Cancer Radiation Does Not Affect Women's Immune System

Medical News Today

A new study shows that neither of two commonly used radiation treatments for early-stage, node-negative breast cancer has any effect on a woman's immune system, even though women who receive five-day partial-breast radiation therapy (MammoSite® brachytherapy) (PBRT) have improved energy and quality of life compared to women who undergo six weeks of whole-breast radiation therapy (WBRT).

"One of the first questions a woman newly diagnosed with breast cancer asks is what impact will radiation have on my body?'" said lead author Dr. Kevin Albuquerque, radiation oncologist at the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola University Health System, Maywood, Illinois, U.S.A. "This study helps allay some fears."

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Treatment Of Cancer In Hospitals Shows A Decrease In The Use Of Radiotherapy Procedures

The Department of Radiology and Physical Medicine of the Universidad de Granada, in Andalusian hospitals radiotherapy is not used as much as should be expected for the treatment of cancer, in favour of other procedures such as chemotherapy or surgery. The study, carried out by Doctor Patricia Cabrera Roldan, and directed by Professor Jose Exposito Hernandez, revealed that the application of radiotherapy treatment often exceeds appropriate time limits, and varies a lot depending on the hospital in which such treatment is applied.

This study is based on the data of patients, treated in any of the 10 Andalusian public hospitals during a period of one year, who were submitted to radiotherapy procedures for the treatment of tumours in the breast, lung, head and neck, cervix and endometrium. The researchers' main objectives were to analyse the frequency of application of radiotherapy treatment in patients suffering from cancer (rate of radiation) and to determine the existence of substantial differences in the application of radiotherapy treatment among different hospitals.

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IMRT better for sparing bladder when treating prostate cancer

When treating early-stage prostate cancer, intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) spares the bladder significantly more from direct radiation when compared to 3-D conformal proton therapy (3D-CPT), but the amount of rectal sparing is similar with both treatments, according to a study released in the October issue of the International Journal for Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

“This study was important because it reassures a patient with prostate cancer that the methods that are available at his local hospital may, in many cases, be as good as those that are currently only available in a limited number of centers,” said Anthony L. Zietman, M.D., a professor of radiation oncology at Harvard Medical School and a radiation oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

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Safe Reduction Of Radiotherapy Is The Aim Of Cancer Researchers

University of Manchester scientists discussed their research aimed at reducing the side effects of radiotherapy without decreasing its effectiveness at the National Cancer Research Institute conference in Birmingham yesterday (Tuesday 2 October 2007).

Around half of patients receive radiotherapy as part of their cancer treatment but the dose is limited by the possibility of causing side effects (toxicity) to the normal tissues and organs that surround the tumour. Some patients are more likely to experience these side effects than others: that is, there is an individual variation in tissue response. Some patients will be very sensitive.

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