In the United States, more than 2,700 new cases of eye cancer are diagnosed each year, according to the American Cancer Society, and the mortality rate is high for the disease. Some patients undergo a life-saving surgery known as exenteration that involves removing the contents of the eye socket and other tissue…
IGRT is the process of using frequent imaging, typically performed in the treatment room prior to radiation delivery, throughout a patient’s course of radiation therapy treatment to improve localization of the target and normal structures, which allows for more precise and accurate radiation delivery. IGRT is a common practice in both photon (traditional radiation therapy) and proton therapy to treat tumors close to sensitive structures and organs or in areas of the body prone to movement or change in shape. This study, “Practice patterns of photon and proton pediatric image guided radiation treatment: Results from an International Pediatric Research Consortium,” evaluates the use of IGRT in treatment planning for pediatric cancers in an international consortium comprised of seven institutions using either photon or proton therapy with dedicated pediatric expertise. Choosing optimal IGRT regimens that spare healthy tissue and organs is a particular concern for pediatric patients to help prevent potential late effects associated with the distribution of the radiation dose and the total radiation dose the patient receives. …
“We’re living at a time where the aging population is growing,” said Ryan O’Connell, D.Phil., assistant professor of pathology, whose lab made the discovery. …
According to the American Cancer Society, more than 18,000 people will be diagnosed with esophageal cancer in the U.S. in 2014 and almost 15,500 people will die from it…
Researchers at Duke Medicine have found a way to kill prostate cancer cells by delivering a trove of copper along with a drug that selectively destroys the diseased cells brimming with the mineral, leaving non-cancer cells healthy. The combination approach, which uses two drugs already commercially available for other uses, could soon be tested in clinical trials among patients with late-stage disease. “This proclivity for copper uptake is something we have known could be an Achilles’ heel in prostate cancer tumors as well as other cancers,” said Donald McDonnell, Ph.D., chairman of the Duke Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology and senior author of a study published Oct. …
Glioblastoma is the most common and deadliest form of brain cancer. The majority of these tumors – known as primary glioblastomas – occur in the elderly without evidence of a less malignant precursor. …
University of Iowa researchers have found a gene in a soil-dwelling amoeba that functions similarly to the main tumor-fighting gene found in humans, called PTEN. …
But during development of metastases, the control function of this inhibitor appears not only to fail but to swing in the opposite direction and to actually promote the formation of metastases. Observations in numerous cancer patients have shown that high levels of the inhibitor TIMP-1 in the blood did not slow the spread of cancer. On the contrary, it actually hastened the progression of the disease…
Pancreatic cancer is a stealthy cancer that is usually detected at very late stages and has a 5-year survival rate of less than 5 percent. …
Coffee consumption is highly prevalent with more than half of all Americans over 18 drinking on average three cups each day according to a 2010 report from the National Coffee Association. Moreover, the International Coffee Association reports that coffee consumption has increased one percent each year since the 1980s, increasing to two percent in recent years. Previous studies found that coffee consumption may help lower the risk of developing diabetes, cardiovascular disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. “Prior research found that drinking coffee may have a possible protective effect on the liver…