Four experts attempted to set straight the record on accelerated partial breast brachytherapy (APBI) after a Dec. 7 presentation by MD Anderson researchers at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, which concluded that APBI is associated with inferior effectiveness and increased toxicity compared with whole breast irradiation in older women. The researchers outlined numerous flaws ranging from the data source to study design to omitted information, during a teleconference on Dec. 13.
89Zr-desferrioxamine B-7E11 displays high tumor-to-background tissue contrast in immuno-PET and can be used as a tool to monitor and quantify with high specificity tumor response in prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-positive prostate cancer, according to research published in the October issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
Positive findings at preoperative PET in the mediastinum appear to have prognostic implications for non-small-cell lung cancer despite histologically negative mediastinal lymph nodes, according to a single-center study published in the October issue of Radiology.
The Molecular Imaging Biomarker Research Group of Siemens Medical Solutions USA has completed a Phase II multicenter clinical trial of its HX4 positron PET imaging biomarker, which is designed to detect hypoxia—a reduction in tissue oxygen levels—in solid tumors.
Image-guided thermal ablation of lung malignancies is on the rise and appears to offer a safe choice for a subset of non-surgical candidates. However, additional clinical studies are needed to demonstrate the efficacy of the procedure in comparison with other treatments, according to a review article published in the September issue of Radiology.
Concord Medical Services and GE Healthcare have signed a memorandum of understating (MOU) to form a preferred strategic partnership in China.
National Imaging Associates (NIA) and the American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO) have signed a collaborative agreement to establish guidelines in radiation therapy treatment.
A combination of well-known safety procedures could prevent most patient-harming errors in radiation therapy, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists, July 31 to Aug. 4 in Vancouver, Canada.
Written by Lisa Fratt
Microscopic gold particles could multiply the effectiveness of standard cancer radiation therapy by acting as tiny missiles that destroy blood vessels feeding cancerous tumors. Early research about this method, which could shorten cancer treatment and make it more effective, is being presented at the 2011 Joint Meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists (COMP).
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has announced the results of its recent election. These new officers will begin their terms at the society’s 53rd annual meeting in Miami Beach, Fla., which will be held Oct. 2-6.
Two tiny genetic variations can predict which patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma are most likely to develop radiation-induced second cancers years after treatment, according to a genome-wide association study (GWAS) published online July 24 in Nature Medicine. Knowing in advance who is at risk could help physicians tailor treatment to reduce the risks for patients who are most susceptible to long-term damage.
After surviving childhood cancer, patients who experience a subsequent neoplasm face a large increase in the risk of developing additional neoplasms, with more than one-quarter developing third or subsequent tumors, and particularly high rates found among those treated for nonmelanoma skin cancers, according to the authors of a large study published June 27 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Cetuximab combined with chemoradiotherapy increases lung cancer survival while inducing side effects comparable to chemotherapy alone, offering promising phase II results that clinicians hope will roll over to an ongoing phase III trial.
Targeting patients undergoing medical imaging procedures or radiation therapy, legislation introduced June 2 by U.S. Reps. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) and John Barrow (D-Ga), would set new education and certification standards for technical medical professionals performing imaging, if ratified. The CARE Act (or Consistency, Accuracy, Responsibility and Excellence in Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy Act), is sponsored by a bipartisan group of 19 members of the House of Representatives.
In its first annual "Breast Cancer Deadline 2020 Progress Report," the National Breast Cancer Coalition cited minimal progress toward ending the disease. To achieve its goal of ending breast cancer by Jan. 1, 2020, the organization advocates a two-pronged approach to research: determining the causes of and methods to prevent breast cancer metastasis and preventing breast cancer from developing in the first place.
The Methodist Hospital in Houston plans to deploy PhyZiodynamics from Ziosoft to produce 3D and 4D images based on CT, MR and PET scans of the brain, lungs and other organs at the facility’s Plato’s CAVE (Computerized Augmented Visual Environment).
Although PET and CT both offered concordance with histologic measurements of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), CT is often accurate for staging primary T1 and T2 NSCLC, according to a study published in this month's American Journal of Roentgenology.
MIM Software’s MIM Symphony is available as a brachytherapy treatment planning system for permanent seed implants.
Written by Manjula Puthenedam, PhD
PET imaging is effective in staging, restaging, detecting recurrence and treatment monitoring across a wide range of cancers. This feature discusses updates on important PET imaging clinical trials in cancer care by the American College of Radiology Imaging Network and National Cancer Institute and focuses on improving cancer staging and predicting response to therapy. The National Oncology PET Registry (NOPR) recently published the results of the impact of dedicated brain PET on intended patient management and opened a registry for 18F-sodium fluoride PET to identify bone metastasis. The Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) sponsored by the NCI is another group conducting clinical trials in cancer, yet PET trials are still few.
IsoRay, which manufactures Cesium-131 used in internal radiation therapy (brachytherapy) for the treatment of lung, brain, colon, head and neck, ocular melanoma and prostate cancer, has announced its second quarter financial results that showed narrowing of net losses despite a decrease in net sales, which ended Dec. 31, 2010.
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