A research conducted at University of California Irvine Medical Center has developed a new therapy that, if delivered endoscopically, in combination with radiation therapy and chemotherapy, can prove beneficial for patients suffering from advanced esophageal cancer. The new biological therapy (TNFerade), in which an agent preventing tumor is injected, was tried on 24 patients of the highly fatal form of cancer. The treatment has a non-replicating virus, engineered to deliver the gene for a protein that fights cancer.

A recent study conducted at Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia indicates that men with early prostate cancer whose PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels have doubled within 6 months of radiation therapy benefit significantly from a hormonal therapy, if initiated sooner. The findings of the research team suggest that the benefit of immediate use of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) was more in patients whose PSA doubled within 6 months than in patients whose PSA had longer doubling times.

Pancreatic cancer, difficult to detect in the early stages and having incidence of recurring in the postoperative stage, has found an effective treatment in chemo-radiotherapy. Gemcitabine, an effective radio-sensitizer, has led to better results in patients suffering with this form of cancer, increasing survival with a clinical benefit. A study conducted by Pancreatic Diseases Branch of Kyushu University in Japan, using a schedule that infused gemcitabine twice weekly for patients suffering with locally advanced pancreatic cancer gave positive results on the survival rate and median survival time.

Swiss doctors have executed the country’s first clinical treatments using RapidArc™ technology from Varian Medical Systems. Clinicians carried out each patient’s scheduled radiotherapy course using RapidArc. IOSI (Istituto Oncologico della Svizzera Italiana) has become the first non-university European hospital to treat with the use of Varian’s RapidArc. The technology delivers a volumetric intensity-modulated radiation therapy in a single or multiple arcs of the treatment machine around the patient, delivering advanced image-guided IMRT much faster than the conventional IMRT.

Siemens Healthcare will be unveiling the Acuson SC2000 volume imaging ultrasound system, the only one of its kind in the world to capture non-stitched real-time full-volume 3D images of the heart in one single heart cycle, during the European Congress of Radiology, August 30 - September 4, 2008 in Munich, Germany. Called “Echo in a Heartbeat”, this new technological innovation, said Klaus Hambuechen, CEO, Ultrasound, Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., allows us to acquire a full volume of the entire heart with 90 degree pyramids. “With a high-volume acquisition rate like this - in one second, every second - acquisition time is dramatically reduced, improving the overall workflow in the echocardiography suite”, he said.

Elekta recently announced that it has received CE Mark clearance to distribute Elekta Compact(TM), the latest addition to its line of treatment systems, offering clinicians an easy to implement more affordable solution for radiation therapy. The clearance from the European Union confirms that Elekta Compact meets the standards for consumer safety. The need for a low energy system in specialized cases made Elekta come up with this product in the range of linear accelerators that has ultra-compact design. It is capable of delivering advanced radiation therapy, especially in markets of developing countries.

According to the results of a major new clinical trial, adding a screening ultrasound examination to routine mammography reveals more breast cancers than mammography alone. This study also showed that supplemental ultrasound may be beneficial in women at high risk of breast cancer who could not, or would not, otherwise undergo a magnetic resonance imaging scan. The trial, however, also found that adding an ultrasound exam increases the rate of false positive findings and unnecessary biopsies.

A team of researchers from Indiana University School of Medicine and the Purdue School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis have come up with the first three dimensional image of a chemotherapy agent targeting and binding to DNA. The study used X-ray crystallography to create the molecular level image of bleomycin bound to DNA.

The American Society of Breast Disease’s Consensus Committee has corroborated that screening MRI is appropriate as an additional test to mammography, clinical breast examination, and ultrasonography for the detection of breast cancer in women who are at high risk. The recommendation was based on the most current data available.

Photo by Ctd 2005

According to a team of researchers led by Dr. Steven Raman, the chances of patients having an unnecessary appendix operation have declined since 1996, as doctors are turning towards CT scans to diagnose appendicitis. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the study involved 1081 patients who had their appendix removed, and the figure of 20% CT scans in 1996 went up to 85% in 2006.