Consensus double reading of baseline results of lung cancer screening provided no statistically significant benefit over a single reader when using a nodule management strategy based solely on semi-automated volumetry, according to a study published in the January issue of Radiology.

Two studies published in the January issue of the International Journal of Radiation OncologyBiologyPhysics demonstrated the effectiveness of proton therapy in treating prostate cancer. One study revealed the therapys effectiveness while limiting side effects; the other showed that external beam therapy can achieve results comparable to brachytherapy.

Statistics from the American Cancer Society (ACS) show a steady decline in cancer deaths between 2004 and 2008, with decreases of 1.8 percent per year in men and 1.6 percent per year in women, according to Cancer Statistics 2012, a report published online ahead of print in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. Lung cancer deaths in men and breast cancer deaths in women were among the most marked declines.

Applying cardiac CT to the evaluation of patients who present to the emergency department (ED) with chest pain at low to intermediate risk of acute coronary syndrome saved money in both the initial diagnosis and over a one-year period, according to a decision analytic model published in the January issue of Academic Radiology.

The CHEST Foundation has awarded a Roswell Park Cancer Institute research team a $100,000 grant to develop a blood test to help diagnose lung cancer in patients before they undergo a biopsy.

GE Healthcare has paid the U.S. $30 million, plus interest, to settle allegations that a company it acquired in 2004, Amersham Health, had violated the False Claims Act by causing Medicare to overpay for Myoview, a radiopharmaceutical used in certain cardiac diagnostic imaging procedures, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The U.S. House of Representatives, in a vote of 229-193, rejected the bipartisan Senate bill H.R. 3630, which included a two-month extension to the payroll tax cut and a fix to the sustainable growth rate. Instead, the House Republicans are insisting on a year-long extension of the tax cut.

Researchers may have uncovered a way to double the efficacy and reduce the side effects of radiation therapy, according to a study published in the December issue of International Journal of Radiation Oncology. The study detailed a method to reduce lung cancer cells' ability to repair the lethal double-strand DNA breaks caused by radiation therapy.