Radiation Therapy News and Research

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Radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy, x-ray therapy, or irradiation) is the use of a certain type of energy (called ionizing radiation) to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation therapy injures or destroys cells in the area being treated (the “target tissue”) by damaging their genetic material, making it impossible for these cells to continue to grow and divide. Although radiation damages both cancer cells and normal cells, most normal cells can recover from the effects of radiation and function properly. The goal of radiation therapy is to damage as many cancer cells as possible, while limiting harm to nearby healthy tissue.

Understanding Prostate Cancer Disparities Through Proteogenomics

Certain proteogenomic signatures in the prostate cancers of men of African and European ancestries were associated with higher risk of metastasis and/or recurrence of the disease, according to a study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2024, held April 5-10.

10 Apr 2024

Non-Invasive Early Cancer Detection Using Chromatin Signatures in Mononuclear Blood Cells

Blood cells reveal tumors in the body. Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute achieve an advance with the development of a test for early diagnosis of cancer.

18 Dec 2023

Research may Offer a New Way to Break Through Cancer's Hypoxia-Induced Defenses

For most of our tissues and cells, a lack of oxygen, or hypoxia, is bad news. Cancer cells, on the other hand, can thrive in these hypoxic conditions, which render tumors less susceptible to anti-cancer treatments, including radiation.

11 Jul 2023

Study Shows How Excess Dietary Sugar Worsens IBD Symptoms

Excess sugar hampers cells that renew the colon's lining in a mouse model of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a new study by University of Pittsburgh scientists.

23 May 2023

Cancer cells use new DNA repair mechanism to recover from next-generation cancer radiation therapy

A team of scientists led by Dr. Kei-ichi TAKATA from the Center for Genomic Integrity within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), has discovered a new type of DNA repair mechanism that cancer cells use to recover from next-generation cancer radiation therapy.

20 Mar 2023

Rice biologists embark on a three-year project to create genetically encoded antibiotics

Synthetic biologists at Rice University are embarking on a three-year project to create "genetically encoded antibiotics," strands of RNA that bacteria will readily copy and share that will selectively kill only disease-causing, pathogenic bacteria.

14 Mar 2023

Using nanoparticles to carry drugs across the blood-brain barrier

Brain tumors are notoriously hard to treat. One reason is the challenge posed by the blood-brain barrier, a network of blood vessels and tissue with closely spaced cells.

3 Mar 2023

Predictive classifier identifies patients who can skip radiation therapy

According to the findings of a meta-analysis proposed at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium held on December 6–10th, 2022, patients with invasive breast cancer who had low scores on an investigational gene molecular signature seemed to have similar rates of local recurrence regardless of whether they received adjuvant radiation therapy after breast-conserving surgery.

12 Dec 2022

Nanomaterials offer a rich avenue to achieve broad-spectrum bioactivities

Cancer treatment is a lengthy procedure because surviving cancer cells frequently transform into aggressive versions that are no longer curable.

From The Max Planck Institute 9 Sep 2022

Spaceflight increases the risk of developing cancer and heart disease

A groundbreaking study from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai found that astronauts are more likely to experience mutations that could be connected to spaceflight and increase their lifetime risk of acquiring cancer and heart disease.

2 Sep 2022

Researchers devise a new treatment approach to cure aggressive brain tumors

Glioblastomas (GBMs) are cancerous tumors of the brain and spinal cord that are incredibly aggressive.

23 May 2022

Scientists discover a special cell in salivary glands that is likely crucial for oral health

Scientists at Scripps Research and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research have discovered a special type of cell that resides in salivary glands and is likely crucial for oral health.

13 Apr 2022

Novel method can report specific immune cell types using only DNA from blood

Flow cytometry is a powerful and complex technology used to count, sort or measure characteristics of cells and to detect biomarkers.

10 Feb 2022

Genetic biomarker test could help personalize therapy for men with high-risk prostate cancer

A new meta-analysis finds that a genetic biomarker test accurately predicts how men with high-risk prostate cancer will respond to treatment with radiation and hormone therapy.

26 Oct 2021

Radiation therapy can reprogram heart muscle cells to a younger state, suggests study

New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that radiation therapy can reprogram heart muscle cells to what appears to be a younger state, fixing electrical problems that cause a life-threatening arrhythmia without the need for a long-used, invasive procedure.

27 Sep 2021

New research focuses on possible treatment options for childhood brain cancer

Medulloblastoma is a rare but devastating childhood brain cancer. This cancer can spread through the spinal fluid and be deposited elsewhere in the brain or spine.

11 Jun 2021

New substance could improve the treatment of drug-resistant cancers

A new substance could improve the treatment of persistent cancers. Researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the University of Greifswald have developed a new inhibitor that makes drug-resistant tumor cells respond again to chemotherapy.

9 Mar 2021

Genomic test helps identify prostate cancer patients who may benefit from hormone therapy

A commercially available genomic test may help oncologists better determine which patients with recurrent prostate cancer may benefit from hormone therapy, according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and 15 other medical centers.

12 Feb 2021

Microbe found in the colon may promote breast cancers

A microbe found in the colon and commonly associated with the development of colitis and colon cancer also may play a role in the development of some breast cancers, according to new research from investigators with the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and its Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.

7 Jan 2021

Repair proteins can help healthy cells to avoid damage during cancer therapy

A key way radiation therapy and chemotherapy work is by making highly lethal double-strand breaks in the DNA of cancer cells.

10 Dec 2020