In the United States, uterine cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women, with an estimated 49,560 women diagnosed in 2013. In addition to surgery, 38 percent of patients undergo pelvic radiation therapy to decrease uterine cancer recurrence…
Brain metastases occur in 20-40 percent of all cancer patients, particularly in those with non-small cell lung cancer, breast cancer and melanoma. They account for 170,000 new cases per year in the United States, and prognosis is poor. Treatment for brain metastases typically includes a combination of surgery, radiation treatment and chemotherapy…
"We discovered that the enzyme USP13 stabilizes the PTEN protein by reversing a process that marks various proteins for destruction by the cell’s proteasome," said the paper’s senior author Li Ma, Ph.D., assistant professor of Experimental Radiation Oncology. "USP13 also suppresses tumor formation and glycolysis though PTEN," Ma said. Glycolysis is a glucose metabolism pathway that tumors rely on to thrive and grow…
"While it is established that tobacco smoke is a risk factor for nasopharyngeal carcinoma [the most common cancer arising from the upper part of the throat behind the nose and near the base of skull], its role in influencing survival of patients with established cancers is not known," said Fang-Yun Xie, M.D., professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center in Guangzhou, China. …
The study was conducted on mice. But if shown to work similarly in humans, the inexpensive, widely available household chemical could provide a new way to treat skin damage caused by radiation therapy, excess sun exposure or aging. Dilute bleach baths have been used for decades to treat moderate to severe eczema in humans, but it has not been clear until now why they work…
The results of the study are to be presented at the 5th European Multidisciplinary Meeting for Urological Cancer (EMUC) on 15-17 November 2013 in Marceille, France. …
In a study published online by Applied Physics Letters, a multidisciplinary team led by Physics Professor Otto Zhou, PhD; Radiation Oncology Associate Professor X. Sha Chang, PhD; and Physics Professor Jianping Lu, PhD, built a device using carbon nanotube-based x-ray source array technology developed at UNC that can generate microbeam radiation with similar characteristics as the beams generated by synchrotron radiation. Researchers from Applied Sciences and Radiology at UNC also participated in this study. Zhou, a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, points to several studies that have shown that microbeam radiation destroyed tumors and increased survival by as much as a factor of ten in brain tumor bearing animals treated with the technique. …
Several reports have suggested links between breast cancer radiation and long-term cardiovascular-related deaths, according to the study background. Researchers examined the radiation treatment plans of 48 patients with stage 0 through IIA breast cancer who were treated after 2005 at the New York University Department of Radiation Oncology. They calculated the association between radiation treatment factors, such as mean cardiac dose, cardiac risk, treatment side, body positioning and coronary events. …
The preclinical and clinical results, which have set the stage for a first-of-its-kind prospective study, point to metformin as an effective radiosensitizer — adrug that makes tumor cells more sensitive to radiation therapy — to treat stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Because of poor local response and five-year survival rates around 15 percent in late-stage NSCLC patients, well-tolerated, combination therapies are greatly needed. The abstract is being presented by Ildiko Csiki, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of Radiation Oncology at Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center. Metformin, the most-widely used drug for type-2 diabetes, has been shown to have anti-cancer effects on a number of cancers, including prostate and colon…
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. …