Tag Archives: international

High-dose radiation therapy for bladder cancer has comparable tumor control compared to surgery

Cystectomy (partial or whole bladder removal surgery) is often the standard treatment for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer; however, advanced RT techniques that spare the bladder may be an effective alternative for patients who are unsuitable for or unwilling to undergo cystectomy. This research was conducted to determine if some of the drawbacks of RT of the bladder, such as local recurrence and late toxicity risks, could be reduced with a lower dose of RT being delivered to the areas of the bladder outside of the tumor region, and to assess the tumor control and toxicity of RT. …

Organized screening for prostate cancer does more harm than good

Prof Boniol, Research Director at the International Prevention Research Institute (iPRI) and Professor at the Strathclyde Institute for Global Public Health at iPRI, Lyon, France, will tell the congress that the total harm men experience in terms of impotence and incontinence, and the side-effects from prostate cancer treatments, severely affects their quality of life, and should further discourage the use of PSA testing for prostate cancer screening. Prof Boniol will say: "The test measures PSA protein levels, which are produced by the prostate gland, in a man’s blood, and may help detect early cancer…

Treating chest lymph nodes in early breast cancer improves survival without increasing side effects

Dr Philip Poortmans, a radiation oncologist from the Institute Verbeeten, Tilburg, The Netherlands, and a member of the EORTC Radiation Oncology and Breast Cancer Groups, said that results from the international randomised trial, which involved 4004 patients from 43 centres, were convincing. "Our results make it clear that irradiating these lymph nodes give a better patient outcome than giving radiation therapy to the breast/thoracic wall alone…

Estimate of amount of radiotherapy dose wasted in compensating for tumour growth between treatments

In research to be presented to the 2013 European Cancer Congress (ECC2013), Professor John Yarnold will say that, until now, there has been contradictory evidence as to whether gaps between radiotherapy treatments, for instance overnight or at weekends, makes any difference to the overall effectiveness of radiotherapy on breast cancer, and, if it does make a difference, why that could be. "Traditionally, breast cancer has not been regarded as a fast growing cancer, unlike some other cancer types, but our research now suggests that a significant part of the daily radiotherapy curative dose is ‘used up’ in compensating for tumour growth overnight and over weekends. We have estimated that the amount of radiotherapy dose that is used up in this way corresponds to approximately 0.60 Gray (Gy) per day," says Prof Yarnold, who is Professor of Clinical Oncology at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and Honorary Consultant at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust (London, UK). "This is the first numerical estimate to suggest that the duration of a course of radiotherapy has an effect on local cancer cure for patients with early breast cancer…

Molecular structure reveals how HIV infects cells

"These structural details should help us understand more precisely how HIV infects cells, and how we can do better at blocking that process with next-generation drugs," said Beili Wu, PhD, professor at the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM), Chinese Academy of Sciences. Wu was the senior investigator for the study, which was published in Science Express on September 12, 2013. The study, which focused on the CCR5 receptor, was supported by both US and Chinese research funding agencies. "International collaborations like this one are increasingly needed to solve big problems in science," said study co-author Raymond C…

Scientists analyze genetic makeup of human and mouse embryos in amazing detail

The technique could lead to earlier and more accurate diagnoses of genetic diseases, even when the embryo consists of only eight cells. The study was led by Guoping Fan, professor of human genetics and molecular biology and member of both the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research. The findings were published in the online edition of the journal Nature and will appear later in the print edition…

Potential new target to treat malignant pleural mesothelioma

In the September issue of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer’s journal, the Journal of Thoracic Oncology (JTO), researchers conclude that Ephrin (EPH) B2 seems to play an important role in malignant pleural mesothelioma cell lines and tumors. Using expression arrays, researchers from the New York University Langone Medical Center looked at EPHB2 in 34 malignant pleural mesothelioma tumors , and found it significantly elevated in tumor tissue compared with matched normal peritoneum. They found EPHB2 overexpressed in all malignant pleural mesothelioma cell lines, but not in benign mesothelial cells…