Surveillance colonoscopy is cost-effective for patients at high risk for developing colorectal cancer, but aggressive surveillance is costly and less effective for low-risk patients, according to a study published online June 21 in Gastroenterology.

Al Amal Hospital in Doha, Qatar, has treated nine brain cancer, prostate cancer and head and neck cancer patients with RapidArc radiotherapy treatments from Varian Medical Systems.

A pair of editorials in the July issue of Radiology promises to revive the screening mammography controversy that followed U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations for breast cancer screening revised in November 2009. The USPSTF guidelines are not based on scientific evidence. Women should be urged to begin annual breast cancer screening at the age of 40, stated Daniel B. Kopans, MD.

Aurora Imaging Technology has installed its Aurora Dedicated Breast MRI System in China at Ruijin Hospital, located in Shanghai, the teaching hospital for the Jiao Tong University Medical School. The installation marks the first Aurora System in China.

Medical therapy and cancer software provider Brainlab has partnered with Toshiba Medical Systems for the integration of its Brainsuite iCT digitally integrated operating room with Toshibas Aquilion LB CT scanner.

Clinical studies have proven that screening for certain cancers and heart disease saves lives. But questions linger. Will those screened derive any mortality benefit? If so, how great is it? What is the cost relative to gains, relative to treatment costs? This month were drilling down into CT screening, for lung cancer, colorectal cancer and coronary artery disease. There are still more questions than answers, but studies are underway.

Ten years ago, it was nearly impossible to go through the day without seeing an advertisement for whole-body CT screening. Today its a different story. The radiation dose exposure from CT scanning has come under intense scrutiny and the value of CT screening must be proved in rigorous trials before many payors, especially Medicare, will consider reimbursing for an exam.

A 55-year-old female head and neck cancer patient from the Istituto Oncologico della Svizzera Italiana in Bellinzona, Switzerland was the first person to be treated clinically via Varian Medical Systems' new single energy medical linear accelerator, Unique.