April 2019

Memory and thinking could be better protected in children with brain tumours if they are treated with proton therapy

Milan, Italy: A comparison of three types of radiotherapy for children’s brain tumours suggests that a type of proton therapy called pencil beam scanning offers the best hope of preserving cognitive functions. The study, presented at the ESTRO 38 conference, shows that this new form of radiotherapy delivers the lowest doses of radiation to the […]

Researchers identify ways to predict and avoid radiotherapy side effects: results from REQUITE study

Milan, Italy: Latest results from a project to discover what makes a cancer patient more likely to suffer adverse side-effects after radiotherapy have shown that a combination of biological markers and certain genetic changes can predict radiation sensitivity. In addition, the international team of researchers in the REQUITE project found further evidence to support an […]

Single dose of targeted radiotherapy is safe and effective for prostate cancer

Milan, Italy: A single high dose of radiation that can be delivered directly to the tumour within a few minutes is a safe and effective technique for treating men with low risk prostate cancer, according to a study presented at the ESTRO 38 conference. Radiotherapy traditionally involves a series of lower dose treatments that take […]

Radiotherapy after chemotherapy may improve survival for patients with advanced Hodgkin’s lymphoma

Milan, Italy: Patients with advanced Hodgkin’s lymphoma who have large tumours at the time of diagnosis may benefit from radiotherapy after chemotherapy even when all traces of the cancer appear to have gone, according to late breaking results presented at the ESTRO 38 conference. Approximately 65-70% of patients with advanced stage Hodgkin’s lymphoma can be […]

Early, hormone-driven breast cancer is less likely to recur if treated with radiotherapy: results from ten years of follow-up

Milan, Italy: Women with early, low risk, hormone-driven breast cancer are less likely to have a recurrence of their disease if they have radiotherapy after surgery, as well as anti-hormone treatment, according to results from a trial that has followed 869 women for ten years. New findings from the 8A trial of the Austrian Breast […]

Antibiotic use linked to greater risk of heart attack and stroke in women

Women who take antibiotics over a long period of time are at increased risk of heart attack or stroke, according to research carried out in nearly 36,500 women. The study, published in the European Heart Journal [1], found that women aged 60 or older who took antibiotics for two months or more had the greatest […]