An aerobic exercise program can reduce fatigue in women undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer

Active Breathing Coordinator was well tolerated and significantly reduced Mean Heart Dose while preserving local control

The accuracy of the dose calculation in the treatment planning procedure is strongly influenced by the treatment planning system. The RayStation planning system utilized at ARO has some advanced features to tackle these challenging and complex demands.

Dr Lao presented at the Updates in Cancer Care Symposium on 15th November, held on the Mercy Hospital site.
This presentation covered the use of Stereotactic Ablative Radiation Therapy in the treatment of Lung Cancer.

Incidental Prophylactic Nodal Irradiation and Patterns of Nodal Relapse in Inoperable Early Stage NSCLC Patients Treated With SBRT

Dietary Total and Insoluble Fiber Intakes Are Inversely Associated with Prostate Cancer Risk" according to a new study published in the Journal of Nutrition.

The concept of oligometastasis has important implications for cancer treatment because patients with limited numbers of metastasis previously thought by some clinicians to be incurable might be cured with local cancer treatments such as radiotherapy or surgery.

SBRT or SABR has demonstrated favorable rates of local control for primary and metastatic tumors and provides a treatment option for deep-seated tumors or for those who cannot undergo surgery.

Stereotactic radiotherapy can offer a short and well-tolerated treatment for lateral pelvic recurrences in previously irradiated areas in patients otherwise not treatable.

Stereotactic body radiation therapy can be an effective treatment for early stage non-small cell lung cancer

The Median Isn't the Message by Stephen Jay Gould - an empowering personal story of statistics and cancer.

There are patients with stage I–III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are not suitable for curative radical chemoradiation therapy. There are patients with an isolated solitary extracranial metastasis who have improved outcomes compared with those with cranial or multiple metastases. Patients of good performance status receiving moderate dose radiation therapy have improved survival. Two regimens of moderate dose chemoradiation therapy for such patients were compared in a randomized phase II trial.

The aim of this pharmaco-epidemiological study was to evaluate the prevalence of oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC) in cancer patients treated with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy.

Prostate segmentation on MR images attracted greater research interest in recent years, with the introduction of conformal radiotherapy (CRT) and intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for prostate cancer. Accurate delineation of tumor target volume and organs at risk becomes increasingly important in radiotherapy treatment planning. However, it is difficult to perform fully automated segmentation in T2-weighted images because the signal intensity within the prostate is inhomogeneous as it reflects the underlying characteristics of the glandular tissue [1]. The interface between the prostate and the rectum and bladder is not always clear.

Further to the development of three-dimensional (3D) conformal, intensity-modulated, image-guided, adaptive radiation therapy, major changes have occurred in the last three decades in the treatment planning of nonmetastatic prostate cancer. These techniques have significantly improved treatment precision, allowing for greater sparing of critical organ and delivery of escalated doses of radiation to the target volume.

The majority of commercial radiotherapy treatment planning systems requires planners to iteratively adjust the plan parameters in order to find a satisfactory plan. This iterative trial-and-error nature of radiotherapy treatment planning results in an inefficient planning process and in order to reduce such inefficiency, plans can be accepted without achieving the best attainable quality.

We propose a quality assessment method based on data envelopment analysis (DEA) to address this inefficiency. This method compares a plan of interest to a set of past delivered plans and searches for evidence of potential further improvement.

To quantitatively evaluate radiation-induced impaired oesophageal transit with oesophageal transit scintigraphy and to assess the relationships between acute oesophagitis symptoms and dysmotility.

Study finds more targeted form of radiation improves survival in patients with head and neck cancers


 

During the past two decades, radiotherapy treatment techniques have advanced significantly due to the development of dynamic multileaf collimators coupled with commercially available inverse planning systems. This has led to the widespread use of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) which facilitates improved conformance to the treatment volume while minimizing dose to surrounding avoidance structures... This research paper looks at using data envelopment analysis (DEA) to address potential inefficiencies in planning adjustment.

Research into the value of multidisciplinary discussions with regard to patient care

Combined Modality Therapy for Stage I-II Diff use Large B-Cell Lymphoma Provides Excellent Local Control and Clinical Outcome in the Rituximab Era

Implications of partial nodal region coverage and the need for adjacent uninvolved nodal region coverage

Spine stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is increasingly being used to treat metastatic spinal tumors. As the experience matures, high rates of vertebral  compression fracture (VCF) are being observed. 
What is unknown is the mechanism of action; it has been postulated but not confirmed that radiation itself is a contributing factor. This case report describes 2 patients who were treated with spine SRS who subsequently developed signal changes on MRI consistent with tumor progression and VCF.

New, or progression of existing, vertebral compression fracture (VCF) post spine- stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for spinal metastases has been reported in the range of 10-39%. Lesion location, radiological appearance, presence of deformity, mechanical pain and percent of vertebral body involvement has reported as potential predictors of VCF. We report our pilot experience and retrospective analysis of patients thought to be at high risk of progressive VCF who were stabilized prophylactically with a percutaneous technique followed by spine SRS.

One of the major concerns for women undergoing radiation therapy to the breast area is the extent of the skin reaction or "burning" they might experience.  This is a very individual reaction to the treatment and the amount of skin changes vary greatly from patient to patient, dependant on skin type, age and lifestyle amongst other things...