Tag : Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy

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Kids were huge motivator for teacher, young mother during cancer treatments

Julia Rosenberger has always been a teacher of some sort or another. As a swim teacher, a gymnastics coach and even as a teenage babysitter, she worked with young kids and had a passion for helping them learn.Inspired by her father, a career teacher and administrator, and by the excellent teachers she had in elementary school and high school, the 34-year-old resident of Holland, Pennsylvania, now teaches second grade.“Being in a classroom and seeing kids make those gains and learn something new — it’s awesome to be part of that,” she says. “Especially in the younger grades. They love being in school, they love their teacher, they learn so much. To be able to give them that gift is really cool. ”When Julia was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer last year, she... Full article

Moving on from prostate cancer

After Ben Smith was “fired” by his urologist 10 years ago for declining to undergo a radical prostatectomy to treat his prostate cancer, Smith fired up his computer and got to work. “I started doing Internet research and looking at every available therapy at the time, even cryotherapy,” the 62-year-old Cocoa Beach, Florida, resident says. “All of the treatments had pretty good efficacy. But then, they would... Full article

Proton clinicians are setting sights on Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas

Lymphomas are the new targets for protons. Primarily preferred for treating solid mass tumors, protons are now being viewed as a prudent type of radiation for treating Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas. About 9,000 Americans are diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma every year. And more than 65,ooo Americans are diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma annually. According to Brad Hoppe, M.D., M.P.H, a radiation oncologist at... Full article

Study looks at value vs. cost in proton and X-ray therapy delivery

A proof of concept study from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center shows that the episodic cost of care using intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT) in advanced-stage head and neck cancer is less than that of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), also known as X-ray or photon therapy. The study, “Defining the Value of Proton Therapy,” published in Oncology Payers, detailed findings concerning... Full article

Florida’s 5-year outcomes study of prostate cancer patients surprised some radiation oncologists

Results of the first five-year outcomes study of prostate cancer patients treated with image-guided proton beams have generated some surprise among radiation oncologists not affiliated with a proton therapy center. “I have had emails from a number of people who have not been involved in proton therapy who were asking for an explanation,” said Nancy P. Mendenhall, M.D., lead author of the peer-reviewed... Full article

Advances in technology, clear clinical benefits will drive more cancer doctors to use protons

The latest technical advancement in proton therapy is already providing such compelling early evidence of its benefit for patients, a leading radiation oncologist predicts it will become standard treatment for many cancers. In use at MD Anderson Proton Therapy Center in Houston, Texas, for more than three years now, intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT) permits doctors to treat one tiny section of a tumor... Full article

WEB REVIEW – Rising preference for non-surgical treatment

According to a new report by Global Industry Analysts, cancer patient show a rising preference for radiation therapy over surgical treatment options. Radiation therapy involves the use of high-energy radioactive particles or electromagnetic waves to destroy cancer cells, shrink tumors and repair physiological abnormalities. The growth in the radiation therapy equipment market is primarily driven by rising incidence of cancer (due to aging population, lifestyle changes, dietary habits, and high smoking rates), but is also fueled by technological improvements in molecular and... Full article

5 years after proton beam therapy, most prostate cancer patients are disease-free and living a normal life, study reports

According to Dr Mendenhall, the number of cancer-free men previously diagnosed with mid-level prostate cancer is of particular significance

A long-term outcomes study of prostate cancer patients treated with image-guided protons may begin to dispel questions about the efficacy of proton therapy and its impact on patient quality of life. For five years, clinicians at the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute in Jacksonville, Florida, tracked the ongoing health of 211 men. Each had been diagnosed with low-, intermediate- or high-risk prostate cancer.... Full article

Preliminary reports show promise of protons for treating head and neck cancers

Four months into treating patients with head and neck cancers using pencil beam scanning with protons, Alexander Lin, MD, is optimistic about the results he is seeing so far. Many cancers are in remission and patients aren’t experiencing the life-changing side effects so common among those treated with conventional radiation. When it comes to sheer cancer-killing power, “protons and photons are equally... Full article

Proton beams are big guns against HPV-related oropharyngeal cancers

Radiation oncologists are using protons against a growing number of oropharyngeal cancers caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV). “We’re seeing a decrease in smoking-related head and neck cancers and an increase in HPV-related oropharyngeal cancers,” said Alexander Lin, MD, clinical operations director at Penn Medicine’s Roberts Proton Therapy Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Penn Medicine is the branded... Full article

Study compares organ-sparing properties of protons with other breast cancer treatments

L. Christine Fang, M.D., radiation oncologist, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Proton Therapy, A ProCure Center in Seattle, Washington.

A recent study showed proton therapy to be superior to three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT), intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), and helical tomotherapy (HT) in sparing the heart and coronary arteries from unintended radiation when treating Stage III breast cancer. “The study validates what we had hypothesized, which is that with the use of proton therapy, we can greatly reduce radiation... Full article

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