Benefits from Radiation Therapy Outweigh Risks for Cancer Patients

Statement from US Oncology

THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Jan. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to the issues raised by the Jan. 24 New York Times article, "Radiation Offers New Cures and Ways to Do Harm," US Oncology, Inc. wants to ensure that cancer patients and the general public understand that the benefits received from radiation therapy in cancer care far outweigh the risks, and that cancer patients fighting their disease with help from the US Oncology physician network, and their loved ones, can rest assured that extensive quality control measures are put in place to minimize risks.

Cancer is a serious and potentially life-threatening disease. Radiation therapy is one of the safest, most effective ways to treat this disease. About half of all people with cancer are treated with radiation therapy, either alone or in combination with other types of cancer treatment.

US Oncology is affiliated with a network of more than 1,300 physicians, including more than 160 radiation oncologists. As technology advances, so does the care required by the technical team to ensure patient safety. US Oncology affiliated practices that offer radiation therapy services are led by board certified radiation oncology physicians and a highly trained technical staff. Quality assurance and patient safety are taken very seriously. Throughout the US Oncology network, steps are taken on a daily basis to ensure that each and every treatment is delivered as intended by the physician.

Practices across the entire US Oncology network follow published guidelines from the American Association of Physicists in Medicine on the performance testing of all radiation therapy technology, comply with regulatory requirements, and engage in a radiation oncology peer-review program that includes a focus on quality assurance.

source: US Oncology

Varian Medical Systems Accredits Royal North Shore Hospital as Australia's First Image-Guided Radiotherapy School

SYDNEY, Jan. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Radiation Oncology Department at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney has become the first in Australia to be formally accredited by Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR), the world leader in radiotherapy, as a teaching facility for image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT). The hospital will hold four IGRT courses in 2010 and there are plans to extend this accreditation to other advanced techniques such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and RapidArc® in the future.

"The advanced radiotherapy that we use in our department combines computer controlled technology with imaging equipment to deliver intensity-modulated radiotherapy and image-guided radiotherapy," says Associate Professor Michael Back director of radiation oncology at the hospital's Northern Sydney Cancer Centre. "These techniques enable the radiation therapists to image and precisely target the patient's tumor each day to within an accuracy level previously unheard of in conventional radiotherapy."

Prof. Back says the signing of the contract with Varian to provide other radiation oncology departments with training in such techniques is a great step towards improving the precision and quality of radiotherapy departments using this equipment across Australasia.

source: Varian

Nation’s First Proton-Certified Radiation Therapists Graduate

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The first group of radiation therapists (RTTs) will receive their advanced proton therapy certificates from Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington today, making them the first proton-certified RTTs in the nation. A graduation ceremony will be held at the ProCure Proton Therapy Center in Oklahoma City, the sixth center to open in the country to offer proton therapy, an alternative to X-ray radiation for cancer treatment that spares healthy tissue and results in far fewer short- and long-term treatment side effects.

The Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington program is the nation’s first proton therapy certificate program and operates as part of the college’s Radiation Therapy Program. A portion of the program was held at the ProCure Training and Development Center in Bloomington, the only training facility in the world dedicated to proton therapy. Eight of the thirteen graduates are employed at the ProCure Proton Therapy Center in Oklahoma City.

“Our relationship with Ivy Tech has been very rewarding,” said Niek Schreuder, senior vice president of technology and medical physics at ProCure. “The training these RTTs receive helps ensure that the highest level of care will be provided to patients at our center in Oklahoma City. The demand for trained staff continues to increase as more proton therapy centers open across the country.”

“We are thrilled that our program develops graduates that can skillfully and compassionately serve the needs of patients with cancer across the nation,” said Larry G. Swafford, Ph.D., professor and chair of the radiation therapy program at Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington. “Our affiliation with ProCure provides our students with hands-on training that is not available anywhere else in the world.”

The advanced proton certificate program provides 16 college credits or the equivalent of two years of continuing education (CE) credits from the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT).

source: Business Wire

Sexual function does not continuously decline after radiation therapy treatments for prostate cancer

Sexual function in prostate cancer patients receiving external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) decreases within the first two years after treatment but then stabilizes and does not continuously decline as was previously thought, according to a study in the January 1 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer other than skin cancer. It can be effectively treated using multiple methods, including prostatectomy, brachytherapy and EBRT, so the long-term side effects are often used by patients and doctors as deciding factors when choosing a treatment.

Changes in sexual function are some of the more common side effects from prostate cancer treatments, but the degree to which EBRT affects function varies widely, depending on the study.

In a first of its kind study, researchers at the Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Department of Radiation Oncology in Philadelphia and the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine Department of Radiation Oncology in Sacramento, Calif., evaluated 143 prostate cancer patients receiving EBRT who completed baseline data on sexual function before treatment and at follow-up visits.

source: ASTRO