Radiation Oncology

Radiation therapy uses high-energy radiation to damage cancer cells' DNA and destroy their ability to divide and grow. It is delivered using linear accelerators, proton accelerators, metered cobalt-60 exposure, or brachytherapy where radioactive seeds are placed inside the patient on a temporary or permanent basis to kill cancer or relieve pain. The main radiation oncology society and annual conference is the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

The GE Starguide SPECT-CT system on display at RSNA 2022.

SPECT technique might measure absorbed tissue dose from radiation therapy

Washington University is using a novel low-count quantitative SPECT technique to measure the concentration of alpha particle radiopharmaceutical therapy activity in the tumor and in radio-sensitive organs.
 

December 16, 2022

New radiotracer IDs numerous cancers likely to respond to targeted therapy

The radiotracer, 68Ga-PentixaFor, can be used for detecting C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4), which plays a significant role in cancer progression.

December 8, 2022
Helga and Zohar, the phantom passengers, on the flight deck of the Orion spacecraft. NASA/LM/DLR photo

NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission using phantom technology familiar to imaging specialists

Ehsan Samei, PhD, president-elect of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, helped NASA build medical phantoms that are literally out of this world. Samei detailed the project at RSNA 2022 in Chicago. 

November 30, 2022

Ultrafast radiotherapy offers significant pain relief for patients with bone metastases

Experts involved in the new research suggested that their findings are in line with that of conventional palliative radiotherapy

November 2, 2022
elderly patient and doctor

High-risk prostate cancer patients benefit from shortened course of radiation therapy

At the annual ASTRO meeting, experts shared that not only did the shortened protocol shave weeks off of the scheduled treatment plan, it also did not come at the expense of increased toxicity. 

October 28, 2022
liver cancer

Radiation therapy extends progression-free survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Research presented this week at the American Society for Radiation Oncology Annual 2022 Meeting argues for the inclusion of radiation therapy as a standard of care in liver cancer patients who are ineligible for resection and other standard therapies. 

October 24, 2022

PET/CT findings predict post-treatment, radiation-induced hypothyroidism

Radiation-induced hypothyroidism is common yet underdiagnosed, potentially owing to a lack of follow-up consensus in patients treated with radiation therapy for head and neck cancers.

October 13, 2022
GE Revolution Apex CT CTA scanner_SCCT_2022_DFjpeg.jpeg

New recommendations for cardiac CT in cardio-oncology imaging

The statement was written to fill gaps in recommendations from prior consensus statements and guidelines in regards to the use of CCT in cardio-oncology, including use of calcium scoring and ruling out coronary disease when cardiac function is impaired.

September 27, 2022

Around the web

Automated AI-generated measurements combined with annotated CT images can improve treatment planning and help referring physicians and patients better understand their disease, explained Sarah Jane Rinehart, MD, director of cardiac imaging with Charleston Area Medical Center.

Two advanced algorithms—one for CAC scores and another for segmenting cardiac chamber volumes—outperformed radiologists when assessing low-dose chest CT scans. 

"Gen AI can help tackle repetitive tasks and provide insights into massive datasets, saving valuable time," Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, said Tuesday. 

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