Posts Tagged ‘Radiotherapy’

Ride for Prostate Cancer Awareness with Radiotherapy Centers of Georgia

Ride for Prostate Cancer Awareness with Radiotherapy Centers of Georgia
ATLANTA, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ — Come ride with the thrill of fresh air in your face all while supporting one of the leading killers of men in the state of Georgia. According to the American Cancer Society, Georgia ranks 6th in highest estimated deaths caused by prostate cancer; this is a serious concern for the state and for Radiotherapy Centers of Georgia , a center of excellence in treatment …

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Radiotherapy for Breast Cancer ? Truly Beneficial

Linear accelerator in radiotherapy converts radioactive components into high-energy radiation beam which is used to check or treat specific body parts. How radiation works actually? Radioactive particles with affecting little the non-cancerous cells treat the affected cell particles at large.

Usually, non-cancerous cells have the power to reform or repaired but cancerous cells are not easy to get repaired. Apoptosis is a cell death cycle where cancer cells are put during the time of next cell division. Radiotherapy in breast cancer is gaining popularity all over the world for its high level of treatment.

Best advantage of radiotherapy is that it can cure if the cancer is spread up to lymph nodes or through surgical margins. And, it helps in reducing the chance of any recurrence risk. Thus, radiation is very much important to cure breast cancer.

One factor which is responsible for radiotherapy is the excess fat content. More fats increase the chances of radiology treatment. There are several adverse effects of radiation to the breast. Skin color may change to red which get reduced with the time.

Radiotherapy for breasts cancer has been using in almost every known medical care units. And, women are getting benefited a lot. As per a survey, 90 % of women have not been noticed any complication after the treatment. Rest 10% have been noticed with certain complications like formation of fibrous tissue, breast shrinkage, reduction of skin elasticity as well as breast sensitivity. And, these changes are quite normal and vary from women to women.

Several websites are available thee days which have been serving people in this regard. They provide all required information of radiotherapy for breast cancer. And, thus it creates more awareness and knowledge about the same.

Radiotherapy for Breast Cancer ? Treatment Procedure & Planning

Radiations are so powerful that they can destroy cancer cells easily. And so radiotherapy for breast cancer is getting popularity these days for its effectiveness.

Radiotherapy treatment is mostly used by doctors after breast surgery. As per surgery and radiotherapy review of research trials, it have been observed that this treatment lower down the risk of coming back of cancer in remaining lymph nodes or breast tissue. And it is also helpful in elongating life of several women.

Women who are in early stage of breast cancer, the cure rate is almost similar whether they are treated with lumpectomy and then radiotherapy. In the treatment radiotherapy for breast cancer, usually all remaining breast tissue are treated after lumpectomy.

Treatment Procedure One needs to move for radiotherapy outpatient department in hospital for the treatment, radiotherapy for breast cancer. Radiotherapy is actually categorized into several small treatments. If someone wants to get total dose in one go, then it would be quite harmful for unaffected body tissues. Thus, dose is split into several parts

You have to travel to hospital for radiotherapy treatment. You have your treatment in the radiotherapy outpatient department. Radiotherapy is split into a course of small treatments. If you were to have the total dose in one go, it would be too harmful to normal body tissues. So the dose is split into smaller doses that you have each day (or on alternate days) over a number of weeks. Each dose is known as a ‘fraction’.

Treatment Planning radiotherapy for breast cancer is a special treatment which is done by specialists in hospitals. At first visit, patients are treated with large machine called CT simulator. CT simulator or CT scans are used to plan the exact treatment area. A pinprick tattoo is made on the skin of patient. It helps radiographer to line up the radiotherapy machine every time of the treatment. One should avoid washing such marks on skin.

Treatment takes very less time and radiographers make patient comfortable sitting on couch. Radiotherapy for breast cancer is perfectly safe for other people including children living with the patients.

One-shot radiotherapy ‘success against breast cancer’

A single dose of radiation during surgery is just as effective as a prolonged course of radiotherapy for breast cancer, a study suggests.

Doctors have tested the technique, which involves a single shot of radiotherapy to a tumour site, in more than 2,000 patients.

It could save the UK £15m a year, the researchers said.

Cancer Research UK said The Lancet study could have a “huge impact” for patients.

The researchers said using the one-stop procedure would be more convenient for patients and cut waiting lists.

Treatment to surgically remove cancerous breast tissue is the starting point of treatment for thousands of women in Britain each year.

That is often followed up with weeks of radiotherapy to the whole breast to kill any remaining cancer cells.

But with the new technique, doctors use a mobile radiotherapy machine that can be inserted into the breast to target the exact site of the cancer.

Led by a UK team, but carried out in nine countries, the four-year trial in women over 45 showed similar rates of disease recurrence regardless of the treatment used.

There were six cases of the disease returning in those who had the new single-dose technique and five cases in those undergoing a prolonged course of radiotherapy.

But the single dose during surgery avoids potential damage to organs such as the heart, lung, and oesophagus, which can occur during radiation to the whole breast, the researchers said.

The frequency of any complications and major toxic effects was similar in the two groups.

University College London Hospitals (UCLH) oncologist Prof Jeffrey Tobias, who enrolled the first patient on the trial at the former Middlesex Hospital in London with oncologist Jayant Vaidya, said: “I think the reason why it works so well is because of the precision of the treatment. It eradicates the very highest risk area – the part of the breast from which the tumour was removed.”

Meanwhile, Mr Vaidya, who is also a UCLH oncologist, said the new treatment “could mean that many more women could conserve their breasts”.

Josephine Ford, 80, was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2008 and was successfully treated with this form of treatment three months later.

She said this approach “simplified everything and made the process less traumatic”.

And she added that it made her life “so much easier” since she “didn’t have to come back to the radiotherapy department on a daily basis for five or six weeks”.

‘Exciting prospect’

While optimistic about the results, the researchers stressed the findings were only applicable to women with a similar type of breast cancer as those in the trial.

But they added: “Treatment of patients with breast cancer accounts for about a third of the workload of radiotherapy departments in some parts of the world and contributes substantially to the unacceptable waiting lists seen in many oncology departments worldwide.

“In countries such as the UK where the waiting list for postoperative radiotherapy could rapidly diminish with use of targeted intraoperative radiotherapy, we estimate savings of around £15m a year.”

Kate Law, director of clinical research at Cancer Research UK, said: “Radiotherapy is already a very effective treatment, so improving that even further is an exciting prospect.

“Further follow-up of these women will be needed to confirm whether this strategy not only makes the most of the therapy’s power but also minimises any long-term side effects.”

One shot of radiotherapy could save breast cancer patients weeks of tiring treatment

One shot of radiotherapy could save breast cancer patients weeks of tiring treatment
Thousands could benefit from the 30-minute radiation technique that can be carried out in just one hospital visit.

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