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Results for search "Radiation".

18 Aug

Skipping Radiation Therapy May Be Safe for Some Women with Early Breast Cancer

Women with a certain type of early-stage breast cancer may be able to omit radiation therapy.

13 Jun

Can Radiation Therapy Be Safely Skipped in Some Cancer Patients?

Two new studies find radiation therapy may not be necessary in treating some forms of rectal cancer and lymphoma.

Health News Results - 77

More Americans exposed to radiation caused by the government would be compensated under a bill that passed the U.S. Senate Thursday.

The bipartisan legislation, which would cost an estimated $50 billion, would expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (R...

For a subset of patients with advanced lung cancer, radiation therapy can sometimes substantially extend their lives.

Now a new study hints that a blood test could be used to identify the people most likely to benefit.

Right now, there is no way to cure stage 4, or metastatic,...

Breast cancer patients who undergo a mastectomy can probably benefit from a shorter course of more intense radiation therapy, a new study indicates.

Hypofractionated radiation therapy -- which provides a higher dose each session over three weeks -- provides the same protection against breast cancer recurrence and post-surgical complications as a standard course of lower-dose radiation ove...

Many women with early breast cancer undergo breast-conserving surgery along with radiation to kill any errant cancer cells, but some may be able to safely skip radiation, new research suggests.

“If the tumors are low-risk, as defined in part by being caught early/small and in part by having favorable molecular features, the risk of recurrence is minimal even if you skip out on what has ...

A technique that uses imaging technology as a guide can make radiation therapy safer for patients undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, a new research review finds.

The technology enables clinicians to accurately aim the radiation beams at the prostate, while avoiding bladder, urethra and rectal tissue. This, in turn, reduces short-term side effects for patients, according to research...

Women who have survived breast cancer age faster than women who have never had to survive the disease.

The treatment they received impacted their aging rates, according to a new study from Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla.

“Breast c...

Radiation therapy might not be necessary in treating some forms of rectal cancer and lymphoma, sparing patients from the toxic treatment, a pair of new clinical trials shows.

One trial found that rectal cancer patients whose tumors shrink in response to chemotherapy can safely skip the radiation therapy that's normally provided prior to surgery, researchers reported at the American Societ...

When Ann Alexander underwent chemotherapy to treat breast cancer a decade ago, she was warned about potential hair loss, nausea and vomiting.

The 73-year-old wasn't, however, told about the potential side effects of radiation therapy, namely acute radiation dermatitis. Symptoms can range from mild to severe, and they include itchy skin, swelling, blistering and open sores.

“It was...

Each year, about 140 kids in the United States are diagnosed with a craniopharyngioma, a typically non-cancerous brain tumor that develops near the pituitary gland at the base of the brain.

Doctors treat craniopharyngiomas with surgery to remove the entire tumor or a less aggressive surgery followed by radiation to kill any remaining cells.

Now, a

  • Denise Mann HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 25, 2023
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  • Full Page
  • Getting a single CT scan during childhood doesn't appear to increase a child's risk of a future brain tumor, leukemia or lymphoma, new research finds, but getting four or more scans more than doubles the chances.

    CT scans use low-dose radiation, which can damage cells. Past evidence about the risks of cancer from these scans in children 18 and younger was conflicting, researchers said.

    Many older women with early-stage breast cancer can skip radiation without harming their survival odds, a new clinical trial finds.

    The study involved women age 65 and older who had surgery for small breast tumors deemed to be low risk of coming back. Typically, those women undergo radiation after surgery, and then start on hormonal therapy to further drive down the chances of a recurrenc...

    A new genetic test may help determine which people with breast cancer can safely skip radiation after breast-conserving surgery to remove their tumor.

    Individuals with invasive breast cancer who had low scores on an investigational gene panel were just as likely to experience a recurrence if they received radiation therapy after breast-conserving surgery or not, Swedish researchers r...

    If you're diagnosed with early breast cancer, treatment often involves breast-conserving surgery followed by chemotherapy, medication and a course of radiation to keep your cancer from coming back. However, little has been known about the long-term benefits of radiation.

    Now, new research shows that radiation lowers the chances that your cancer will return in the same breast by 60% over t...

    Flash radiotherapy, a new technology that uses targeted proton beams, is safe and effective in relieving pain for terminal cancer patients, a new, small study suggests.

    Flash radiotherapy delivers radiation at dose rates more than 300 times higher than those used in conventional radiation...

    As doctors work toward developing more personalized cancer care, a new study looks at whether lung cancer patients can miss a few days of radiation treatment and make them up with a higher dose.

    The more treatments a patient skips, the higher their risk of early death, according to the research from Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. However, some patients may still benefit from re...

    While the United States has recently ordered a $290 million supply of a drug meant to treat radiation sickness, federal health officials say that's not cause for alarm.

    It's coincidental that the order of

  • By Cara Murez and Robin Foster HealthDay Reporters
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  • October 10, 2022
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  • Tens of thousands of breast cancer patients could safely go without radiation therapy after their tumor has been removed, a new study argues.

    Gene testing helped doctors identify a group of women who skipped radiation therapy because their cancer showed very low...

    A new analysis uncovers a racial paradox in prostate cancer care: While Black men are often diagnosed later and with more aggressive disease than white men, radiation therapy seems to work better for them than for their white peers.

    To come to that conclusion, researchers reviewed seven trials comprising more than 8,800 men with

  • Denise Mann HealthDay Reporter
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  • January 3, 2022
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  • Full Page
  • A condition called lymphedema is a well-known side effect of breast cancer treatment that can lead to swelling in the arms and legs.

    New research suggests that Black women experience are at more than three times the risk of this painful issue compared to white women.

    "Lymphedema worsens quality of life for breast cancer patients," said the study's lead author, Dr. Andrea Barrio. S...

    New treatment options are giving hope to patients with stomach cancer.

    Also known as gastric cancer, the disease is the world's sixth most common cancer with 1.09 million new cases in 2020, according to the World Health Organization.

    It's an abnormal growth of cells that can affect any part of the stomach, but typically forms in the main part.

    "I tell patients who have been re...

    Women with breast cancer are known to have heart problems related to treatment, and now a new study shows their odds of developing an abnormal heart rhythm known as atrial fibrillation (a-fib) may increase in the wake of a breast cancer diagnosis.

    Women who develop a-fib within a month of a breast cancer diagnosis are more likely to die from heart- or blood vessel-related problems within ...

    CT scans expose patients to radiation even as they help doctors spot serious health problems. Now a new study finds low-dose scans can readily spot appendicitis while reducing patients' radiation exposure.

    "The results of this study suggest that the diagnostic CT scan radiation dose can be significantly decreased without impairing diagnostic accuracy," said lead study author Paulina Salmi...

    Since 1971, when the U.S. government made defeating cancer a goal and put major funding behind it, death rates for many cancers have plummeted, but some are increasing, according to a new American Cancer Society report.

    Death rates for all cancers combined have declined since passage of the National Cancer Act of 1971, according to the report. For example, in 2019, deaths from lung c...

    After prostate cancer surgery, men can safely undergo fewer radiation treatments at higher doses, a new clinical trial shows.

    Researchers found that the shorter regimen -- given over five weeks, instead of seven -- did not raise patients' odds of lasting side effects.

    Safety has been a "major concern" because when patients have fewer radiation treatments, the daily dose needs to be ...

    High-dose radiation therapy may stall tumor growth in patients with advanced lung cancer who are not fully responding to drug therapies, a preliminary study suggests.

    The study involved patients whose lung cancer was considered "oligoprogressive." That means the cancer had spread to other sites in the body, and the patients were having a mixed response to standard systemic treatments -- i...

    The cancer drug cisplatin can save children's lives, but often with the side effect of hearing loss. Now a new study shows that young children are especially vulnerable, and the hearing damage may begin early in the course of treatment.

    The researchers said the findings highlight the need to screen kids' hearing during each round of cisplatin treatment, to catch problems early.

    Younger women who undergo radiation for cancer in the left breast have a heightened risk of heart disease years later, a new study finds.

    Among women who received radiation therapy for left-sided breast cancer, 10.5% developed coronary artery disease over the next 27 years, researchers found. That was close to double the rate among women who had radiation for tumors in the right breast.

    Black American military veterans with aggressive prostate cancer who would benefit from surgery or radiation are less likely to get those treatments than men of other races, despite equal access to health care, a new study finds.

    "Despite great strides in prostate cancer care over the past few decades, racial disparities in care persist, and there remains a lot to be done to better unders...

    Patients with advanced prostate cancers may have newfound hope: Researchers identified a new potential treatment for men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, which has no cure.

    Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer means the disease continues to spread despite therapies that deplete male hormones (androgens) such as testosterone, which are thought to "feed" tum...

    There's no evidence of genetic damage in the children of parents who were exposed to radiation from the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster in Ukraine, researchers say.

    Several previous studies have examined the risks across generations of radiation exposure from events such as this, but have yielded inconclusive results.

    In this study, the investigators analyzed the genomes...

    Many women older than 70 can safely receive fewer treatments for early-stage breast cancer, a new study suggests.

    Researchers found that adding lymph node removal or radiation to women's treatment did not seem to cut their risk of a breast cancer recurrence, which was low overall.

    The findings, experts said, support existing recommendations to "de-escalate" those procedures for many...

    Cancer screening rates are beginning to rebound after plummeting during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, a new survey finds.

    And patients are being diagnosed with more advanced cancers than before the pandemic, according to the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

    "The trend toward more advanced disease, while alarming, does not automatically mean worse outcom...

    People diagnosed with cancer often have many concerns, including "financial toxicity," the hardship and stress associated with the cost of treatment.

    New research found that for men with early-stage prostate cancer, choices about initial treatments can be a source of stress. And the cost is a big reason why.

    "Cost of treatment and the associated financial burden could be an importan...

    Hormone therapy can be a lifesaver for men with prostate cancer, but it also appears to put some at increased risk of heart problems, a new study reports.

    Long-term androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) increased the risk of heart-related death nearly fourfold in a group of prostate cancer patients, and also caused their heart fitness to decrease, researchers found.

    There is one import...

    Cancer patients who need radiation therapy shouldn't let fear of COVID-19 delay their treatment, one hospital study suggests.

    Over six days in May, during the height of the pandemic in New Jersey, surfaces in the radiation oncology department at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., were tested for COVID-19 before cleaning.

    Of 128 samples taken in...

    Instead of weeks of radiation following a lumpectomy, a new study shows that many women with early breast cancer do just as well with only a single dose of targeted radiation that is given during their surgery.

    "Breast cancer outcomes, in terms of cancer coming back, breast cancer survival, dying from breast cancer, being mastectomy-free, being free of disease elsewhere in the body, a...

    The coronavirus pandemic has caused many to put off medical procedures, but a delay in radiation treatment for prostate cancer doesn't appear to affect survival, a new study shows.

    Researchers found that men with intermediate- or high-risk localized prostate cancer receiving radiation and hormone therapy who delay radiation while staying on hormone therapy didn't face worse outcomes....

    CT scans have been proven to help spot lung cancer early and save lives. Now, updated expert recommendations could double the number of Americans who are eligible for the yearly screening.

    The recommendations -- from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) -- would expand the definition of "high risk" for lung cancer. That's expected to not only increase the number of people ...

    Supplies of personal protective equipment remain scarce across the United States, especially the N95 respirator masks that health care workers use to protect themselves from the new coronavirus.

    To help extend the useful life of available equipment, researchers and hospitals are turning to a long-known, if little-used, means of disinfection -- ultraviolet radiation.

    "It's ge...

    Pregnant women exposed to high levels of radiation from cellphones, microwaves and Wi-Fi may be increasing their baby's risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a new study suggests.

    Called MF (magnetic fields) nonionizing radiation, these waves are in the air all around people. They also come from cellphone towers, high-tension electrical wires, electric appliances,...

    Everyone is learning to deal with the threat of the new coronavirus, but for people with cancer, the virus is even more concerning.

    Cancer can increase people's risk of catching the coronavirus. It increases the odds of complications from the infection, too.

    "Patients with cancer are at a higher risk, especially if treatment is active or recent. It's hard to give a one-siz...

    There's been a large decrease in Americans' exposure to medical radiation, according to a new study.

    Between 2006 and 2016, medical radiation exposure among U.S. patients fell by 20%, reversing a steep, quarter century-long rise.

    The number of diagnostic and interventional radiology exams remained largely unchanged, even though the U.S. population jumped about 23 million...

    Breast size should be considered when positioning a breast cancer patient during radiation therapy, researchers say.

    Even at low doses, radiation targeted at breast tumors can also affect nearby organs such as the heart and lungs, so patients are positioned lying face down to protect the heart and lungs as much as possible, the researchers explained.

    However, breast size may...

    As rural hospitals and specialty care units close, a new study shows that some breast cancer patients are forced to travel long distances for their treatments.

    University of Minnesota researchers found that those living in rural parts of the United States travel three times as far as urban women for radiation therapy.

    The study, led by Ph.D. student Colleen Longacre, analy...

    Many people don't realize that cancer patients are in constant need of blood supplies.

    Chemotherapy and radiation treatments for cancer can damage the body's ability to produce healthy blood cells and cause potentially life-threatening conditions. Blood transfusions help provide critical clotting factors, proteins and antibodies.

    Now, the American Red Cross and the American C...

    Radiation therapy that targets cancers in the chest area can tax the heart and trigger high levels of fatigue, breathing problems and a reduced ability to exercise, a new study suggests.

    However, doing more physical activity before undergoing radiation therapy may help reduce these problems, the researchers added.

    "This study suggests that when a patient is treated wi...

    Dry mouth can be a troubling side effect of radiation therapy, but acupuncture may ease its symptoms, a new study suggests.

    Of 339 patients getting radiation for head and neck cancer in the United States and China, those who had acupuncture had fewer symptoms of dry mouth (xerostomia) than those who didn't have acupuncture.

    Patients who had fake acupuncture (placebo) had a...

    A long-term study comparing two types of radiation treatment for early breast cancer found that accelerated partial breast radiation (APBI) appeared to do as well as standard whole breast radiation for keeping cancer at bay.

    The study looked at 10-year recurrence rates. The findings mean the partial breast procedure may offer women another choice for treating early-stage breast cance...

    Ten years after radiation treatment for head and neck cancer, some patients may develop problems speaking and swallowing, a new study finds.

    These problems are related to radiation damage to the cranial nerves, the researchers explained. The condition is called radiation-induced cranial neuropathy.

    "We had always thought that radiation did not damage cranial nerves because t...

    In the largest investigation of its kind, researchers conclude that subjecting prostate cancer patients to radiation therapy immediately after surgery doesn't give them an advantage in staying cancer-free.

    The finding stems from a review of four studies that together tracked outcomes for more than 3,500 prostate cancer patients from multiple countries.

    If the findings help c...

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