Complications Reduced In Early Stage Breast Cancer Patients By Radiation Device

A new study shows that the SAVI™ applicator, a small, expandable device inserted inside the breast to deliver partial breast irradiation, carries a low infection risk, a potential complication of such devices. The research, led by radiation oncologists and surgeons at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center and Fort Myers, Florida-based 21st Century Oncology, also indicates that other complications - such as seromas, pockets of fluid that build with the use of internal radiation devices - are unlikely to occur.

That's good news for those women with early-stage breast cancer who opt to have such devices inserted for their radiation therapy after breast-sparing lumpectomy surgery, said Cate Yashar, MD, associate professor of radiation oncology at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and chief of breast and gynecological radiation services at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center. Their use is increasing, she added, noting that the Moores UCSD Cancer Center was one of the first medical facilities in the country to offer SAVI.

source: Medical News Today

Varian RapidArc Technology Used with Novalis Tx System for First Time Outside U.S. to Treat Head and Neck Cancer Patient

BERN, Switzerland, April 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A 51-year old female cancer patient from Switzerland has become the first patient outside the U.S. to be treated with RapidArc™ radiotherapy technology from Varian Medical Systems on a Novalis Tx™ platform for radiosurgery and radiotherapy.

Doctors at Inselspital, the Bern University Hospital, used the Novalis Tx platform from Varian and BrainLAB to treat a patient suffering simultaneous skin cancer of the nose and an aggressive nasopharyngeal cancer with image-guided IMRT (intensity modulated radiotherapy). The treatment was 'very satisfactory' and compared favourably with conventional treatment techniques, according to Professor Daniel M. Aebersold, chairman of radiation oncology, who said the patient is responding well to the treatment.

Rather than targeting tumors with radiation beams from fixed angles, the Novalis Tx unit with RapidArc capability rotates continuously around the patient performing radiotherapy or radiosurgery several times faster than is possible with conventional techniques.

source: Varian

Brochure Explains Radiation Therapy Treatments For Colon, Rectum, Anus Cancers

The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has published a new patient brochure, Radiation Therapy for Cancers of the Colon, Rectum and Anus.

This year, 108,000 Americans will be diagnosed with colon cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. Another 41,000 men and women will be diagnosed with rectal cancer. About 5,000 people will learn they have anal cancer.

Radiation therapy is often used in conjunction with surgery and chemotherapy to treat these cancers. The radiation oncologists at ASTRO have written a two-page color brochure to help patients and their families understand how radiation therapy works to cure colon, rectal and anal cancers, often while preserving patients' abilities to retain normal bowel and urinary functions.

"Coping with a diagnosis of colon, rectal or anal cancer can be very scary, especially at first. Recognizing this, ASTRO created its brochures to help educate patients on the lifesaving benefits of radiation therapy and what they can expect during treatments," said Gregory Patton, M.D., chair of ASTRO's Communications Committee and a radiation oncologist at Northwest Cancer Specialists, P.C., in Portland, Ore.

source: ASTRO

Encouraging Results Published on Use of TomoTherapy in Lung Cancer Treatment

MADISON, Wis. – April 9, 2009 – TomoTherapy Incorporated (NASDAQ: TOMO) today cited recently published encouraging preliminary results of an ongoing Phase I clinical trial on the use of intensity-modulated (IMRT) and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) focusing on the concept of accelerated hypofractionation to overcome tumor repopulation, one of the well-known mechanisms of radiation resistance, using TomoTherapySM for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The paper, published in Technology in Cancer Research and Treatment (Technol Cancer Res Treat. 2008 Dec;7(6):441-8.) titled, “Dose Escalated, Hypofractionated Radiotherapy Using Helical Tomotherapy for Inoperable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Preliminary Results of a Risk-Stratified Phase I Dose Escalation Study,” evaluates a study devised to test the safety of escalating the biologically-effective tumor dose via hypofractionated treatment regimens using 25 fractions over five weeks. Traditionally, radiotherapy is delivered over six to seven weeks, or even longer (sometimes up to 10-11 weeks) if dose-escalation is the goal. A downside to dose escalation in this manner is that tumor repopulation occurs during the prolonged delivery time. Shorter dose-escalated schedules have historically been avoided because of the expectation of severe toxicities. The University of Wisconsin (UW) School of Medicine and Public Health investigators hypothesized that the conformal dose-delivery abilities of TomoTherapy, with helical IMRT and IGRT, would permit safe dose-escalation with shorter schedules, thereby limiting accelerated repopulation, and possibly improving tumor control.

source: Tomotherapy

High Dose Radiation Improves Lung Cancer Survival, U-M Study Finds

Higher doses of radiation combined with chemotherapy improve survival in patients with stage III lung cancer, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Standard treatment for this stage of lung cancer -- when the tumor is likely too large to be removed through surgery -- involves a combination of radiation therapy with chemotherapy. But, this new study finds, giving chemotherapy at the same time as the radiation enhances the effect of both. Further, increasing the dose of radiation over the course of treatment also increased survival.

source: Medical News Today

Radiation Oncologist Leads National Study Of Advanced Radiation Technique For Soft Tissue Cancers

A multicenter national research study to evaluate use of presurgical, image-guided radiation therapy for soft tissue sarcomas, a type of cancerous tumor, is being led by Dian Wang, M.D., Ph.D., a Medical College of Wisconsin radiation oncologist at Froedtert Hospital.

This Radiation Therapy Oncology Group study will enroll approximately 102 adult patients with a confirmed diagnosis of soft tissue sarcoma of the arm or leg. Half of these participants will receive presurgical chemotherapy in addition to image-guided radiation therapy, based on an individual, preliminary decision made with their physician.

source: Medical News Today

Some Radiation Therapy Treatments Can Decrease Fertility

ScienceDaily (Apr. 1, 2009) — In female cancer patients of reproductive age, radiation treatment directly to the ovaries should be avoided because there is a direct relationship between certain types of radiation therapy and fertility problems, according to a review in the April 1 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

Radiation therapy to the pelvic region can cause ovarian failure or result in damage that makes the uterus unable to accommodate the growth of a fetus. These effects are not a great concern to cancer patients past their reproductive years, but due to the growing number of pediatric and young-adult cancer survivors, these effects are increasingly relevant.

source; Science Daily