Women exposed to radiation therapy as children prone to stillbirths

Although unproven, radiation-induced damage of human germ cells might be transmitted to the offspring of patients, which could have adverse effects on reproduction and the health of offspring. This damage could also have implications for those who are exposed to radiation and chemicals in occupational or other settings, such as nuclear power plants.

In this new study, the authors took data from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS), which covered 25 US institutions and one in Canada. The risk of stillbirth and neonatal death among the offspring of men and women who had survived childhood cancer was calculated. All patients in CCSS were younger than 21 years at initial diagnosis of an eligible cancer and had survived for at least 5 years after diagnosis.

Among the 1148 men and 1657 women who had survived childhood cancer, there were 4946 pregnancies
. Irradiation of the testes (men), pituitary gland (women), and use of alkylating chemotherapy drugs (both sexes) were not associated with an increased risk of stillbirth or early baby death. Uterine and ovarian irradiation significantly increased (by nine times) the risk of stillbirth and neonatal death across all age groups combined, when doses greater than 10•00 Gy were used. For girls treated before puberty, irradiation of the uterus and ovaries at doses as low as 1•00-2•49 Gy increased the risk of stillbirth or neonatal death by almost five times; when doses over 2.5 Gy were used, the risk was increased 12 times.

source: Physorg.com

Varian Medical Systems and Brainlab Combine TrueBeam™ STx with the Novalis® Radiosurgery Program

PALO ALTO, Calif. and MUNICH, June 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Varian Medical Systems (Varian) and Brainlab today announced the expansion of their partnership to incorporate Novalis technology and other Novalis® Radiosurgery Program elements with the recently launched TrueBeam™ STx system. The expanded suite of products will be badged "Novalis powered by TrueBeam STx." The announcement was made at the 5th International Conference of the Novalis Circle, a meeting of Novalis radiosurgery users that provides a platform for collaboration between clinicians to advance the field of radiosurgery, which was held in Munich June 17-19.

This expanded agreement is a natural extension of a relationship between the two companies that began in 1996, and grew with their collaboration around the Novalis Tx™ radiosurgery platform, which launched in 2007. Novalis Powered by TrueBeam STx will give clinicians radiosurgical and image-guidance capabilities designed for targeted SRS and SBRT treatments. It will include Brainlab iPlan® treatment planning and ExacTrac® room-based x-ray imaging technology as well as Varian's HD120 MLC multileaf collimator for high resolution beam shaping.

"TrueBeam STx technology will significantly enhance the Varian-Brainlab offering to the radiosurgery market with its significant speed and precision. The Novalis Radiosurgery Program includes a comprehensive package of clinical applications, workflow, knowledge base and training for radiosurgery," said Dow Wilson, Executive Vice President; President, Oncology Systems, Varian Medical Systems, Inc.

The TrueBeam STx is specially configured for advanced radiosurgery and is designed to treat a moving target with unprecedented speed and accuracy. A TrueBeam system can deliver treatments up to 50 percent faster with a dose delivery rate of up to 2400 monitor units per minute, double the maximum output of earlier, industry-leading Varian systems. This makes it possible to offer greater patient comfort by shortening treatments, and to improve precision by leaving less time for tumor motion during dose delivery.

source: Varian Medical Systems

TomoTherapy Signs Radiation Therapy Equipment Agreement With Amerinet

MADISON, WI, Jun 22, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- TomoTherapy Incorporated /quotes/comstock/15*!tomo/quotes/nls/tomo (TOMO 3.03, -0.06, -1.90%) announced today that it has signed a purchasing agreement with Amerinet, a leading national healthcare group purchasing organization (GPO). This agreement will make TomoTherapy's premier radiation therapy solutions available to Amerinet's members and will result in a more streamlined purchasing process for Amerinet member facilities seeking an innovative and proven technology for advanced cancer care.

Amerinet has more than 41,000 members nationwide.

"Our new agreement with TomoTherapy will benefit our members by expanding their options for radiation oncology systems," said Ken Rosemann, vice president, laboratory and diagnostic imaging for Amerinet.

"Over the years, TomoTherapy system users have published many studies that demonstrate the system's effectiveness for treating a wide array of cancers throughout the body, from the most common to the most complex," said Fred Robertson, TomoTherapy CEO. "We look forward to the opportunity to work with Amerinet member organizations as they seek to improve and enhance cancer treatment alternatives for their patients."

About Amerinet As a leading national healthcare group purchasing organization, Amerinet strategically partners with acute and alternate care providers to reduce costs and improve quality through its performance solutions. Built on a foundation of data, savings and trust, and supported by a team of clinical and supply chain experts, Amerinet enriches healthcare delivery for its members and communities they serve. To learn more about the Amerinet difference, visit www.amerinet-gpo.com.

source: MarketWire

Press Release: ASTRO applauds MedPAC review of Stark law exception

Fairfax, Va., June 16, 2010 - The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) commends the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) for highlighting concerns about physician self-referral in cancer care in its report released yesterday. We urge the commission to make recommendations to Congress to end abuses of the physician self-referral law in radiation oncology enabled by the "in-office ancillary services exception."

"We are very pleased that key federal policymakers are fully aware of the ever-expanding schemes that are being used to generate profit at the expense of American taxpayers and cancer patients," Tim R. Williams, M.D., ASTRO chairman, said. "We appreciate the considerable effort that MedPAC and others are dedicating to examine these abuses, and we are confident that this hard work will pay off in sound policies that protect cancer patients and precious health care resources."

ASTRO's highest priority is excellence in cancer patient care. When a patient's medical condition requires a referral for specialized care, the treatment decision must be based on quality care and patient choice, not financial incentives. ASTRO believes it is wrong to create business enterprises centered on rewarding physicians for making referrals, yet we are increasingly seeing business ventures across the country designed to generate additional revenues within a group practice by incorporating radiation therapy.

source: ASTRO

Florida radiation council endorses ASTRO patient protection plan

Fairfax, Va., June 15, 2010 – Through a unanimous decision, the Florida Advisory Council on Radiation Protection has endorsed Target Safely, the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO) patient protection plan.

ASTRO’s Board of Directors developed Target Safely after a systemic review of the Society’s patient safety and quality assurance projects, which began as part of the Board’s winter meeting January 28-31, 2010. The goal of the plan is to improve safety and quality and reduce the chances of medical errors.

"The Florida Bureau of Radiation Control and the Advisory Council on Radiation Protection are pleased to endorse ASTRO’s Target Safely plan," William Passetti, chief of the Florida Department of Heath Bureau of Radiation Control, said. "We are always looking for partners to work with to help reduce any unnecessary radiation exposure to people in Florida and feel this plan is an important piece toward that end."

source: ASTRO

New 'Microbead' Radiotherapy More Effective With Molecular Imaging

ScienceDaily (June 7, 2010) — Research unveiled at the Society of Nuclear Medicine's 57th Annual Meeting may change the way that a novel form of radiotherapy is set up and tested prior to treatment. This technique, known as radiomicrosphere therapy, involves the injection of tiny highly radioactive beads that "nestle up" with cancerous tumors and destroy them with precision. However, technologists and physicians must work together to carefully plan each patient's treatment using molecular imaging to ensure that the beads do not wander off into other areas of the body.

"Radiomicrosphere therapy guided by molecular imaging is an emerging area of radiotherapy and has the potential to target treatments for cancer patients," said Ron Young, C.N.M.T., principal researcher and clinical manager of nuclear medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio. "This technique allows us to provide the most effective and individualized therapy with minimal complications for the patient."

Radiomicrosphere therapy can lead to unwanted damage to healthy tissues. Young emphasizes that those providing care must perform an imaging scan of patients to predict where these particles are going to travel and potentially destroy normal tissue.

source: Science Daily release

Proton Therapy Carries Precise, Potent Punch Against Cancers for Patients at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA, May 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia announces the availability of proton therapy, a precise form of cancer radiation that offers potentially life-changing benefits to children with brain tumors and other solid tumors. The Hospital's Cancer Center has recently begun using proton treatment at the new Roberts Proton Therapy Center, a cutting-edge radiation oncology facility located across the street from Children's Hospital in Penn Medicine's Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine.

With a child diagnosed with a brain tumor, parents often face a cruel dilemma. Conventional radiation treatment that offers survival often risks severe side effects, including damage to surrounding healthy tissue, as well as impairments to hearing, vision, growth and cognition. The after-effects may impede a child's daily life and may carry the prospect of lifelong disability and dependence. In fact, the side effects are potentially devastating enough that conventional radiation therapy is not given to children under age two.

The Roberts Proton Therapy Center is the only proton therapy facility in the country conceived with pediatric patients in mind from the earliest planning stages. Children who receive proton therapy in this $140 million state-of-the-art facility benefit from a long-standing collaboration between Children's Hospital and radiation oncologists at Penn Medicine. Young patients experience family-focused pediatric care from a medical team who understands the unique needs of children with cancer, while providing emotional support for the entire family. Every detail has been considered-- from scheduling morning treatments for children who cannot eat prior to anesthesia, to offering a dedicated child-oriented waiting room and a dedicated pediatric anesthesia room.

source: PR Newswire

Well-Tolerated Radiotherapy Provides Longer Life to Patients With Recurrent Brain Cancer

ScienceDaily (May 24, 2010) — Patients who received hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy for their recurrent brain cancers lived longer lives, according to researchers at Thomas Jefferson University.

Not only does hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (H-SRT) provide longer survival, patients do not experience side effects commonly seen with use of chemotherapies and targeted therapies, the researchers found. They believe these findings, reported online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, set a new bar for the treatment of recurrent gliomas.

"In many centers, patients with tumor progression within six months after the initial conformal radiotherapy are denied a second radiotherapy course (such as H-SRT), based on the assumption that their prognosis is poor." said senior author Maria Werner-Wasik, M.D., professor of Radiation Oncology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and Co-Director of the Stereotactic Radiosurgery Program at Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience. "Our findings support the recommendation that essentially all patients with progressive high-grade gliomas, who are in good shape and have tumors amenable to local radiotherapy, should be considered for H-SRT."

source: Science Daily release

Varian Medical Systems Introduces ProBeam™ Proton Therapy Platform at Particle Therapy Co-operative Group (PT COG) 2010 Meeting

GUNMA, Japan, May 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) is introducing the fully-integrated ProBeam™ proton therapy system at the 2010 Particle Therapy Co-operative Group (PT-COG) meeting here this week. The ProBeam system incorporates imaging, gating, robotic patient positioning, treatment planning and oncology information software to enhance treatment quality for patients and workflow efficiency for clinicians.

"ProBeam is the result of decades of leadership in proton therapy research and development and it has been designed from the ground-up to meet the needs of clinicians and patients alike," says Moataz Karmalawy, head of Varian's particle therapy group. "This fully integrated system can be used for all forms of advanced proton therapy including image-guided proton therapy and intensity-modulated proton therapy."

The ProBeam system incorporates Dynamic Peak™ integrated scanning technology which paints a precise radiation dose on the target volume, enabling true intensity modulated proton therapy. The system also incorporates proprietary pencil-beam scanning technology, which allows for precise dose distribution.

source: Varian

U-M study achieves reduced side effects in head and neck cancer treatment

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have applied advanced radiation techniques for head and neck cancer to avoid treating critical structures that affect swallowing and eating. A new study shows these principles and techniques treated the cancer effectively while greatly reducing long-term swallowing complications.

The researchers applied highly conformal, intensity-modulated radiation therapy and knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the structures involved to carefully craft a novel treatment plan that avoids certain muscles in the mouth and throat that are most involved in swallowing. Generally, head and neck tumors do not spread to these structures.

Of the 73 patients treated with this technique, all but four were eating a normal diet after their treatment ended and only one was dependent on a feeding tube. Typically up to 20 percent of head and neck cancer patients remain dependent on a feeding tube after finishing an intensive course of radiation treatment concurrent with chemotherapy.

Results of the study appear online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

source: University of Michigan Health System