Tag Archives: norris-cotton

African American women receive less breast reconstruction after mastectomy — ScienceDaily

“We wanted to understand whether the racial disparity observed in breast reconstruction among women with breast cancer was related to where women received care, independent of race,” said Tracy Onega, PhD, Associate Professor of Community & Family Medicine, Norris Cotton Cancer Center, and The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. “This study fills an important gap in addressing whether racial disparities in breast reconstruction are due — at least in part — to disproportionate use of hospitals with services available.” Breast reconstruction after mastectomy is associated with better quality of life and other benefits — in fact insurance coverage for reconstruction is legislatively mandated. …

Researchers target rapid destruction of protein responsible for cancer cell resistance to therapy

“These findings may lead to a new target for chemoresistant cancer cells,” said Ruth W. Craig, PhD, professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, who is primary author of the peer reviewed article. “These cells are resistant to multiple types of standard chemotherapeutic agents because of over-expression of Myeloid Cell Leukemia-1 (Mcl-1), however, Mcl-1 expression plummets when we inhibit one particular enzyme and then cancer cells subsequently die.” The Mcl-1 protein is frequently over-expressed in cancer; it is present not only in leukemia and lymphoma but also in a host of solid tumors. …

Scientific first allows doctors to ‘see’ radiation treatment in body

Dartmouth began to investigate a scientific phenomenon called the Cherenkov effect in 2011. Our scientists and engineers theorized that by using Cherenkov emissions the beam of radiation could be "visible" to the treatment team. The ability to capture a beam of radiation would show: • how the radiation signals travel through the body • the dose of radiation to the skin • any errors in dosage…