Current radiotherapy treatment damages a patient's healthy tissue as well as eradicating the tumour it is intended to destroy, making the treatment especially invasive and often causing nasty side effects.

Higher doses of radiation combined with chemotherapy improve survival in patients with stage III lung cancer, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

In female cancer patients of reproductive age, radiation treatment directly to the ovaries should be avoided because there is a direct relationship between certain types of radiation therapy and fertility problems, according to a review in the April 1 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology.

High-dosage perioperative brachytherapy (applied within the surgical process) obtains excellent results in the treatment of head and neck tumours, at the same time as reducing the period of radiation.

A novel angled gantry approach to coronary CT angiography reduced radiation exposure to the breast by more than 50%, according to Thomas Jefferson University researchers.

A new analysis of the National Cancer Institute's cancer registry has found that as many as one in five older women experience delayed or incomplete radiation treatment following breast-conserving surgery, and that this suboptimal care can lead to worse outcomes.

Patients treated with radiation prior to surgery for advanced rectal cancer have fewer instances of cancer recurrence and better overall survival rates, according to a recent Geisinger report.

Accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) using a type of radiation seed implants called balloon brachytherapy, a newer type of radiation treatment that offers more convenience to early-stage breast cancer patients by shortening radiation therapy from the standard six to seven weeks of treatment to only one week, is as effective in keeping breast cancer from coming back as the standard external beam radiation treatment.

Early-stage breast cancer patients who receive a more intensive course of radiation to their whole breast over three weeks is as effective as the standard, less intensive five-week whole breast radiation and offers patients more convenience at a lower cost, thereby providing a better quality of life, according to a randomized, long-term study presented September 22, 2008, in the plenary session at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 50th Annual Meeting in Boston.

A new study suggests standard radiation therapy for some breast cancer patients may not be medically required and may, therefore, be causing unnecessary serious side effects such as lymphedema and pulmonary problems. The research conducted at Fox Chase Cancer Center involved women who got a mastectomy, but whose lymph nodes were negative.

For women whose breast cancer has spread to their lymph nodes, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan could replace exploratory surgery as the method for determining whether those women need radiation therapy to treat their disease, according to a study to be presented during the annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) which opens today in Boston.

One of the most effective means of treating cancers is via radiation therapy. However, ionization and its by-products damage both the cancer and normal cells.